The University of Wisconsin–River Falls is a public university in River Falls, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System. The campus is situated on the Kinnickinnic River in the St. Croix River Valley. The university has 32 major buildings and two laboratory farms, with a total of of land. In 2013–2014, UWRF had an enrollment of 6,061 students in more than 40 undergraduate and graduate programs. UWRF is a member of the American Council of Education Internationalization Laboratory and provides several global studies and study abroad programs. The university also hosts the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development.
History
The University of Wisconsin–River Falls was founded in 1874 as River Falls State Normal School, one of the state normal schools created to prepare students for teaching careers and to provide better education to the state's frontier regions. In 1927, the school was renamed River Falls State Teachers College, as the state normal schools became "State Teachers Colleges" that incorporated a significant increase in general education offerings and four-year courses of study leading to a Bachelor of Education degree. After World War II, thousands of returning veterans in Wisconsin under the G.I. Bill needed more college choices for their studies and educational advancement. Because of popular demand, the Regents of the State Teachers College system allowed the teacher training institutions to offer bachelor's degrees in liberal arts and fine arts. In 1951, when the state teachers colleges were organized as "Wisconsin State Colleges", the school name was changed to Wisconsin State College–River Falls, and the school offered a full four-year liberal-arts curriculum. In 1964, it was renamed Wisconsin State University-River Falls when state colleges were all granted university status. The school became a member of the University of Wisconsin System in 1971 when the former University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin State University system merged. It then became the University of Wisconsin–River Falls.
The Fall 2012 acceptance rate was 79.2% for incoming freshmen.
Rankings
The University of Wisconsin–River Falls is one of four University of Wisconsin System institutions included in The Princeton Review's 2014 list of the "Best in the Midwest." For 2014, U.S. News & World Report ranked UWRF in the top tier for Regional Universities in the Midwest United States. In 2018, University of Wisconsin–River Falls was ranked 93rd in Regional Universities in Midwest, 23rd in Top Public Universities and 381st in Business Programs in United States of America.
Sustainability
received an A- grade on the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card. The university has created the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development, whose mission is "to support and facilitate the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in becoming one of the premier venues for deliberation and demonstration of sustainable community development principles."
