The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse continues to position itself among the country's elite public universities. The university is the state's top-ranked public or private higher education institution by the U.S. News & World Report for Best Regional Universities in the Midwest and has been ranked among the top four Midwestern public institutions for nearly two decades.

UWL offers nearly 101 undergraduate academic programs in 30 disciplines, 28 graduate programs and two doctoral programs. Students learn directly from professors, including the Wisconsin Professor of the Year, an honor UWL faculty have earned four times in the last decade. A 19:1 student-faculty ratio means small classes, an average of 29 students.

Murphy Library is the campus center for academic inquiry. The library provides access to a vast and diverse collection of electronic and print resources, facilities designed to accommodate in a flexible manner a variety of learning needs, technologies that complement and enhance the acquisition, synthesis and use of information, and staff to help students find and use the quality information they need.

A university education consists of more than what goes on in the classroom. A great deal of learning takes place through involvement in organizations, research, and community service. Students have an abundance of choices to develop leadership skills, form relationships, volunteer, make a difference, and have fun.

The campus lies in a residential section of the city of La Crosse and is a major point of interest on the Great River Road that winds north and south through 10 states along the Mississippi River. The city is nestled on the east bank of the river below towering 500-foot bluffs separated by steep-walled ravines known as coulees.