“Private Dominican university in Madison with 80+ programs on a 55-acre campus overlooking Lake Wingra.”
Edgewood College — officially renamed Edgewood University on July 1, 2025, during its centennial year — is a small private Catholic university in the Dominican tradition, tucked onto a 55-acre wooded campus on the shores of Lake Wingra in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1927 by the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters, the institution educates about 2,000 students across more than 40 undergraduate majors, 25 graduate programs, and three doctoral programs. Edgewood is best known for its Henry Predolin School of Nursing (CCNE-accredited, among Wisconsin's strongest BSN/MSN/DNP pipelines), the School of Business (ACBSP-accredited), and highly personalized undergraduate programs in education, psychology, biology, and communication. The Dominican charism runs through every part of campus life: small discussion-driven classes, a Mission and Heritage curriculum woven into all majors, and an institutional focus on 'truth, compassion, justice, community, and partnership' that attracts students who want a values-driven alternative to larger state universities nearby. Although Edgewood shares a zip code with the 50,000-student University of Wisconsin-Madison, its character is pointedly the opposite: a 10:1 student-faculty ratio, average class size in the mid-teens, and professors who know students by name. This scale is a meaningful draw for international students, who make up a small but culturally important share of the campus and receive individual attention from a dedicated Center for Global Education team. Edgewood competes in NCAA Division III athletics (Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference) with 20 varsity teams and has a particularly strong reputation in women's sports, with new competitive programs added alongside the university rename. The campus itself is a major draw. Edgewood sits on the quieter, residential west side of Lake Wingra, directly across from the Henry Vilas Zoo and a short bike ride from the Wisconsin State Capitol and UW-Madison's State Street district. Students wake up to lake views, paddle kayaks between classes, and are still minutes from the cultural, dining, and career infrastructure of a major Big Ten college city. Traditions like Mazzuchelli Fest (named for the Dominican founder of the Sinsinawa Dominicans), Friday After Class gatherings, and Brewer game trips anchor campus life. For international students seeking an affordable small-college U.S. experience in a vibrant Midwestern state capital, Edgewood offers a rare combination — deep personal attention, generous automatic merit aid, and a setting that makes a 55-acre campus feel larger because it borders a 200-acre urban lake-park system.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceFall — International
Rolling admission with a soft priority date; early application encouraged for I-20 processing.
Spring — International
Rolling admission; complete applications reviewed on arrival.
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$35,860
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
A CCNE-accredited nursing school grounded in Catholic Dominican values, offering BSN, RN-to-BSN, MSN, and DNP pathways with clinical rotations across Madison-area hospitals.
ACBSP-accredited undergraduate and graduate business programs with distinctive tracks in sustainability leadership, ethical entrepreneurship, and accounting.
A Wisconsin DPI-approved teacher preparation program with elementary, secondary, and special-education licensure tracks plus graduate programs in educational leadership.
The liberal-arts core of Edgewood — home to psychology, biology, communication, English, art, and the interdisciplinary sustainability major.
Houses accelerated evening and online programs designed for adult learners, including the Accelerated BSN and graduate certificates.
4 years
Edgewood's flagship undergraduate program — CCNE-accredited, small cohort sizes, and clinical rotations at UW Health, UnityPoint Meriter, and St. Mary's Madison.
3 years
A practice-focused terminal nursing doctorate with tracks including Family Nurse Practitioner and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care; a leading post-BSN pathway in Madison.
2 years
An interdisciplinary graduate degree blending business, ethics, and environmental science — designed for mid-career professionals in green-sector and mission-driven roles.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $35,860
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
