The University of Wisconsin-Madison (also known as UW-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, or UW) is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. Founded in 1848, it is the largest university in the state with a total enrollment of over 41,000 students, of whom approximately 29,000 are undergraduates.

A public, land-grant university, UW-Madison offers a wide spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs, and student activities. The school is frequently called a "Public Ivy," and in 2007 U.S. News & World Report ranked UW as the eighth best public university in the United States. It has also been ranked as the 16 th best university in 2006 in terms of volume scientific publications according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Top100.htm" target="_blank">http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2006/ARWU2006_Top100.htm UW-Madison ranked second in a list of top national research universities for the 2006 fiscal year, generating more than $900 million in research, according to statistics by the _National Science Foundation.

From 1848 to 1956, the university was part of the higher education system in Wisconsin that included the current Madison campus, ten freshman-sophomore centers and the state-wide extensions. blank">History and Organization of the University of Wisconsin System. Retrieved on Feb, 18, 2007. Between 1956-1971, it was part of the then University of Wisconsin. It became a part of the _University of Wisconsin System in 1971.

Wisconsin's NCAA Division I athletic teams are called the Badgers. They compete in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except ice hockey, where they participate in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Wisconsin's football team won the Rose Bowl in 1994, 1999, and 2000. Its men's basketball team won the NCAA National Championship in 1941, and made it to the Final Four in 2000. Both the men's and women's hockey teams won the national championship in 2006.