The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) is seeking state approval to change how it ranks high school students for the Wisconsin Guarantee program, potentially affecting how many students are automatically admitted into University of Wisconsin-system schools.
Students who place in the top 10% of their class at the end of the 11th grade are automatically admitted to all UW universities, save for UW-Madison, under a state program known as the Wisconsin Guarantee, provided they apply by the regular deadlines. Students who apply by the early deadline and rank in the top 5% of their class are automatically admitted to UW-Madison.
School districts are specifically required by state administrative guidelines to submit no more than the stringent 5% or 10% cutoffs. This means even if the overall number of students surpassed the 10% and 5% percentages, all students with GPAs in the top 10% and 5% were found to be eligible for automatic admission.
The Wisconsin Guarantee requires school districts to create a ranking system solely using students’ GPAs. In the fall of 2024, MMSD decided to use unweighted GPAs and kept that policy in 2025.
District directors Mary Jankovich and Langston Evans wrote a memo to members of the Board of Education May 18 requesting a student tie-breaking process. The board unanimously approved MMSD’s proposal at the May 18 School Board meeting.
“MMSD must implement a formal tiebreaking process to comply with both state statute and this guidance,” Jankovich and Evans wrote in the memo. “Approval of this process will ensure the district can consistently and fairly differentiate among students with identical GPAs while remaining fully compliant.”
Despite the lack of a tiebreaking process, some high school students enjoyed the Wisconsin Guarantee program.
Lauren Alibali, a recent Madison West High School graduate, went through her admissions process being in the top 5% of her grade.
“I’d say I really valued the Wisconsin Guarantee because it made applying to college a lot easier. I knew I had a great option to rely on so I really liked that. I could see my hard work be reflected through my admissions process,” Alibali told the Cardinal.
Another recent Madison West graduate Zoey Kim wasn’t part of the Wisconsin Guarantee for UW-Madison, but she said it's a beneficial program for in-state students.
“I do think it’s a really good program because it gives students in the state more educational opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t get to them,” Kim said. “I got in [to UW-Madison] so even though I didn’t qualify, [Wisconsin Guarantee] didn’t prevent me from being able to still get in on my own.”
When looking at students with the same GPA at the 10% and 5% cutoff marks, they will now be assessed in three criteria in order: The student with the highest ACT composite score wins the tie; If they have the same score, the students will be compared with the total of their completed college credit-eligible courses, such as AP, Early College Credit or other dual-credit courses; if they are still tied, the student with the highest attendance rate between ninth and eleventh will win the tie.
“ACT scores correlate with college GPA and continuation rates, while completion of college-level coursework is associated with stronger academic performance in college. Consistent attendance further reflects behaviors tied to degree completion,” the memo said. “Applied in sequence, these criteria offer a fair, objective and research-based method for resolving GPA ties.”
