Education

The Wisconsin public school system is administered by the state Department of Public Instruction, headed by the superintendent of public instruction. There is no state board of education. School attendance is compulsory from age 6 to age 18.

The Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education administers a variety of educational programs and services. Courses are offered in many fields, including agriculture, business, home economics, and industry.

Indian mission schools were established at Green Bay in the 1660's. During the 1840's, German settlers in Milwaukee set up private schools. The state constitution (1848) provided for a public school system. The first kindergarten in the country was founded as a private school by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, wife of the reformer Carl Schurz, in Watertown in 1856. A compulsory school-attendance law was enacted in 1879.

The largest institution of higher learning in Wisconsin is the University of Wisconsin, a state school. It was established in 1848 and opened in 1849. In 1971 it merged with the Wisconsin State Universities, making the new University of Wisconsin system one of the largest such institutions (in student enrollment) in the country. The main campus is in Madison, and there are campuses in a number of other communities throughout the state. The university system also includes several two-year campuses. The extension division offers undergraduate, graduate, and noncredit courses through classroom study or by correspondence.

The Madison campus overlooks Lake Mendota. Bascom Hall, erected in 1859, is the oldest building on campus. Other notable structures include the 56-bell Carillon Tower; Washburn Observatory, which houses the university's planetarium; the block-long Humanities Building; Elvehjem Museum of Art; Steenbock Memorial Library; and Helen C. White undergraduate library. The university arboretum is at nearby Lake Wingra.

Marquette University, in Milwaukee, is the largest private institution of higher learning in the sta4e.