With 2025’s Labor Day weekend behind us and earlier sunsets leading to shorter days, fall is drawing near. As summer winds down, most schools are back in session for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Wisconsin’s public education system has a lot to be proud of. In 2025, the Consumer Affairs Journal of Research listed Wisconsin as one of the top ten states for public education.
The list is compiled through a quantitative research system that analyzes factors such as graduation rates, student to teacher ratios, and standardized test scores.
The top three states on the list are Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey.
Wisconsin landed the last spot, coming in at number ten.
The state has a higher than average graduation rate of 93.33%, while the national average graduation is typically listed at around 87% according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
However, Wisconsin does have a lower than average student to teacher ratio of 13.7 students for every teacher. In comparison, New York has the best student to teacher ratio of 11.7 students for every teacher.
Wisconsin also has a major claim to fame, as it has the fifth highest ranked average SAT score in the country. With the state’s average clocking in at 1236, it is about 20% higher than the national average.
For college aged students, it is important to note that Wisconsin’s public colleges have an in state tuition cost that is 18% cheaper than the national average. The amount typically lies around $9,619 for each individual to attend one academic year of college.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin’s higher education system does not comparatively stack up to the higher standards set by the K-12 education system. Wisconsin’s higher education quality ranks at 19, placing it just slightly above average.
There have also been specific concerns about school performances in both math and reading. These two subjects have seen low test scores, especially after the COVID pandemic in 2020.
Waukesha County has seen some recovery, though, as their testing numbers have been restored to 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels in 2024.
The good news for parents is that Wisconsin scores very high when rated for its overall safety, although individual districts have approaches designed to best help the community.
