The Wisconsin Guarantee - Act 95

Rankings will be run once a year after summer semester grades have been transcripted. Student transcripts will include a notation of their percentile (Top 5% or Top 10%) by August 15, prior to the start of their senior year.  

For determining the top 5% and 10% of students, the district will include the first student or group of tied students whose numerical ranking
reaches 5% and 10%, respectively, of the total number of students in the Senior (12th grade) class at each high school in the district (Capital High School, Madison East High School, Innovative High School, Robert M. LaFollette High School, Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Vel Phillips Memorial High School and Madison West High School).

Students who are enrolled in at Madison Promise, Early College Stem Academy, Early College Education Academy will be included in the ranking of their primary enrollment or “home” high school. All programs under Innovative High School (Gateway to College, Horizon High School, Madison College High School ED, Omega HSED, and Operation Fresh Start) will be included in the Innovative High School ranking.  If any of the graduating classes have 15-19 students, the student ranked #1 will be in the top 5% and the student ranked #2 will be in the top 10%, as per Wisconsin Guaranteed Admission Act 95. If any of the graduating classes have less than 15 students, they will not be ranked.

The following are included for transparency of anticipated common scenarios, and is not all-inclusive of all scenarios:

EXAMPLE: In a class of 544 students,

• 5% is 27.2 students, and 10% is 54.4 students. The District will round up to the next whole number - meaning that 27.2 is rounded up to 28 students, and 54.4 is rounded up to 55 students by GPA, respectively. These students will receive a notation on their transcript
• In this class of 544 students, if more than the top 28 are tied by GPA, all of these students will have the “top 5%” of class notation on their transcript. 
  • For example, if 41 students are tied for the top 5% by GPA, all 41 students will receive the top 5% notation. 
  •  Students 42-55 will receive the top 10% notation on their transcript. However, if there are students beyond number 55 with GPAs tied with number 55, those students will also be considered in the top 10%.
• In this class of 544 students, if 55 were tied for the top rank, all of those students would receive a top 5% notation. Because this group in the top 5% takes up all spots (5% and 10%), there will be no students provided top 10% notation.

Beginning with the Class of 2026, MMSD will round down to the nearest whole number if the Top 5% or Top 10% calculation results in a non-whole number.  Example as follows:

EXAMPLE: In a class of 574 students,

1. 5% is 28.7 students, and 10% is 57.4 students. The District will round down to the nearest whole number - meaning that 28.7 is rounded down to 28 students, and 57.4 is rounded down to 57 students by GPA, respectively. These students will receive a notation on their transcript.
2. In this class of 574 students, if more than the top 28 are tied by GPA, all of these students will have the “top 5%” of class notation on their transcript.
   • 1. For example, if 41 students are tied for the top 5% by GPA, all 41 students will receive the top 5% notation.
   • 2. Students 42-55 will receive the top 10% notation on their transcript. However, if there are students beyond number 55 with GPAs tied with number 55, those students will also be considered in the top 10%.
3. In this class of 576 students, if 57 were tied for the top rank, all of those students would receive a top 5% notation. Because this group in the top 5% takes up all spots (5% and 10%), there will be no students provided top 10% notation.

Student transcripts will include a notation indicating whether the student ranks within the top 5% or top 10% of their class, without providing an exact numerical rank (percentile rank only).  MMSD will only send official transcripts with the top 5% and top 10% notations to Universities of Wisconsin schools, to comply with Wisconsin Guaranteed Admission ACT 95.  All other official transcripts sent out will be unranked and will not include the top 5% and top 10% notations.  
 

To receive a GPA-based ranking, a student must be fully enrolled in MMSD by August 1, prior to their senior year. The student will only be considered in the school they have a Primary Enrollment, and must be full-time students.  Students must also be on track to graduate and need no more than 8.0 credits in order to graduate.