Our Story
In 1893, the Wisconsin legislature established a “normal school” in Superior to train school teachers. The Superior Normal School, which evolved into the University of Wisconsin-Superior, welcomed its first students in 1896. By providing trained, well-educated teachers, the institution helped the small towns and rural areas of the region to grow and prosper.
Our Mission
Throughout its history, the University of Wisconsin-Superior has committed to improving the lives and livelihoods of people in northwestern Wisconsin and beyond by seeking knowledge and spreading it to all who may benefit.
To accomplish these ends, the University will:
- Provide students with a carefully articulated and comprehensive foundation in liberal studies as a base for all degree programs.
- Award associate and baccalaureate degrees in selected fields in education, arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences, business, and pre-professional programs.
- Offer graduate programs in areas associated with its undergraduate emphases and strengths.
- Extend its undergraduate and graduate resources beyond the boundaries of the campus through alternative delivery of programs.
Mission of the Universities of Wisconsin
The mission of the Universities of Wisconsin is to develop human resources, to discover and disseminate knowledge, to extend knowledge and its application beyond the boundaries of its campuses, and to serve and stimulate society by developing in students heightened intellectual, cultural, and humane sensitivities, scientific, professional and technological expertise, and a sense of purpose. Inherent in this broad mission are methods of instruction, research, extended training, and public service designed to educate people and improve the human condition. Basic to every purpose of the Universities of Wisconsin is the search for truth.
Fast Facts
By the Numbers -
- 2,703: Total students enrolled
- 497: Graduate students enrolled
- 26,000: Community service hours worked by students (2022-23)
- 1,251: Online students
- 13:1: Student to instructor ratio
- 17: Average Class Size
Hallmarks
Our size and 13:1 student-instructor ratio give faculty members time to engage, challenge and mentor students.
Students apply academic knowledge to projects that meet real community needs in the Academic Service-Learning program.
Researchers at four institutes study Lake Superior's ecosystem and work to improve the transport and shipping industries in sustainable ways.
UW-Superior's graduates are regional and national leaders in government, education, business, the arts and the professions.
2022 Rankings
#104. in Regional Universities Midwest (tie)
#113. in Top Performers on Social Mobility (tie)
#35. in Top Public Schools (tie)
The University of Wisconsin-Superior is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), one of six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
Being accredited by the HLC is a sign of quality to the general public that also allows the university to receive federal student aid and scholarship money. UW-Superior has been accredited continuously since 1916.
Accreditation by the HLC and by other nationally recognized agencies provides assurance to the public, in particular to prospective students, that an institution has been found to meet the agency's clearly stated requirements and criteria and that there are reasonable grounds for believing that it will continue to meet them.
UW-Superior earns and maintains its accreditation by periodically undergoing a detailed, rigorous self-study process, which examines the organization's performance, goals, strengths and weaknesses and outlines plans for improvement. A team of HLC evaluators then conducts a site visit and issues its recommendations for re-accreditation.
UW-Superior reaffirmed its accreditation with a comprehensive Campus Self-Study in 2013. A successful 4-year site visit reaffirmation, which included submitting an assurance argument and hosting peer reviewers for a site visit, occurred in April of 2017.
Academic program accreditations
Individual academic programs and departments are accredited or approved, as noted:
- Association of Small Business Development Centers
- Council on Social Work Education: Social Work
- National Association of Schools of Music: Music
- Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: Teacher Education
