UW-Madison Posse Program
Posse identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Focusing on four major cities, New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Chicago, Posse extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive, diverse teams—Posses—of 10 students. Posse partner colleges and universities award Posse Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships.

No. 1
UW-Madison was the first large, public, flagship, Research 1 institution to join the Posse Foundation. UW's Posse Program is the only one to recruit from as many as four cities, making it the largest in the United States.

90% Graduation Rate
Within the last several years, six-year Posse scholar graduation rates have reached or exceeded 90% for multiple graduating classes.

434 Alumni
Our program's reach extends far and wide, with more than 400 alumni across the country and the world.
More than 600 merit scholarships have been awarded thus far.
Posse In the News
Posse alum Jasmia Hamilton launches consulting firm, focuses on inclusion
Jasmia Hamilton, a Posse alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), is the founder of Innovative DEI, a boutique consulting firm that offers diversity, equity, and inclusion training and organization development. When Jasmia transitioned from high …
UW Posse scholar turns TikTok trend into research opportunity
Gráinne McDonagh, a sophomore Posse scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recently presented academic work at the Promoting Research in Social Media and Health Symposium (PRISM) at the University of California, San Francisco. Her topic: …
Meet Posse scholar Albert Elston, one of UW’s exceptional graduates of winter 2021
Albert Elston, a personal finance major, has a goal: keep more venture capital in the Midwest instead of sending it to wealthy coastal economies. To that end, he co-founded ImpactVC, UW–Madison’s Venture Capital Club. The …
Campus Events
- September
- September 30UW Makeathon 2023Interdisciplinary collaborations, prizes, food and fun!All day, UW Makerspace, Wendt Commons
- September 30Madison Vegan FestShuttle from campus to festival grounds will be provided! Read description.11:00 AM, 4330 Libby Rd, Madison, WI 53711
- September 30
- September 30