1

Mission Statement Analysis: Stanford University & The University of Wisconsin-Madison

Natalie Dominguez

HESA 500: Foundations of Higher Education

Dr. Katy Jaekel

October 15, 2021

2

Introduction

The United States is home to thousands of universities and colleges spread out across the

entire nation. Every single one of these higher education institutions has their own unique way(s)

of recruiting students to attend their university. The never-ending advancements in technology

have pushed for universities to create and utilize their own personal website as well as various

social media platforms. The website specifically tends to encompass all the information about the

university. One very crucial piece of information that is on the website is the institution’s

mission statement.

Mission statements can vary immensely. Every single higher education institution has

their very own distinct mission statement. What is the purpose of this? Well, the mission

statement typically includes the values, goals, ethics, and agenda of the institution. The mission

statement is one way that a university can stand out against all others. Mission statements can

also be analyzed to determine what the specific university is offering, who they are serving, and

what the end outcome is for their students. The two mission statements that will be analyzed

include Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Stanford University is classified as a private not-for-profit institution. Stanford, located in

the sunny state of California, is a very well-known and pristine institution that opened in 1891

and currently has around 15,000 students. Stanford offers degrees ranging from a bachelor’s

degree to a doctoral degree. It is typically ranked in the top ten universities in the United States.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is classified as a public four year or above institution.

UW-Madison is also a land grant institution with an enrollment of about 45,000 students. It also

offers a wide range of degrees such as Stanford University ranging from a bachelor’s to a

doctoral degree. This is not the only similarity that can be found between the two universities. If
3

one were to take a closer look at the mission statements, there are many more that can be

discovered.

Similarities

At first glance, the statements put out by both Stanford and the University of Wisconsin-

Madison look pretty similar especially when it comes to their lengthiness. Both statements

include what they intend to focus on or implement in order to achieve their goals. For instance,

Stanford University states that they will focus on “accelerating solutions to the world’s most

pressing problems, enhancing our knowledge of the world and ourselves, advancing education

for our students, and supporting our diverse community of faculty, students, and staff” (Stanford

University, 2019, Stanford: Our Vision). Similarly, the University of Wisconsin-Madison

focuses in on what they must do such as “offering broad and balanced academic programs, [to]

generate new knowledge, achieve leadership in each discipline” and much more. (University of

Wisconsin-Madison, 1988, Mission). Both universities offer steps or strategies that they will take

to implement their goals.

Another similarity that the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Stanford University

share is their goal to have their students create an impact on society by addressing larger scale

issues. Stanford University’s vision statement discusses their focus on “accelerating solutions to

the world’s most pressing problems” (Stanford University, 2019, Stanford: Our Vision). The

University of Wisconsin-Madison states that in order to fulfill their mission that they must

“generate new knowledge through a broad array of scholarly, research and creative endeavors,

which provide a foundation for dealing with the immediate and long-range needs of society”

(University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1988, Mission). These ideas surrounding a large-scale

4

impact indicate that both universities want their students to be mindful of how and on what scale

they impact and create change within society.

Differences

While there are similarities between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Stanford

University there are also very prominent differences. One right off the bat, is the fact that

Stanford University utilizes a vision statement instead of a mission statement. A vision statement

is not as clear as a mission statement and tends to change more often compared to the mission

statement. The fact that Stanford does not have a mission statement could be a bit concerning as

there are not a set or structured group of ethics, values, or goals that the university believes to be

extremely important. The vision statement allows for these ethics, values, and goals to be

flexible and changeable depending on how the university is feeling. The University of

Wisconsin-Madison and their mission statement specifically state their goals, values, and ethics

that are not ever-changing but are strategic, direct, and structured.

A distinguishable difference noted in the mission statements between a land-grant

institution and a private institution includes the interactions within a community. The land-grant

institution is much more interactive and intentional when it comes to communities. UW-Madison

states they will “serve society through coordinated statewide outreach programs that meet

continuing educational needs in accordance with the university’s designated land-grant status”

(1988, Mission). UW-Madison is committed to serving communities statewide by implementing

programs backed and designed by the research that comes out of the university itself. The

designs of these programs meet the needs of the specific area of the state. Whereas Stanford

University only mentions this concept of “community” when discussing how they must support

their own “diverse community of faculty, students, and staff” (2019, Stanford: Our Vision). It
5

seems that Stanford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have two different perspectives on

what community consists of. Stanford University focuses on their own community consisting of

very specific groups of people within the institution which in turn hints at the specifics of who

receives the resources that the university provides. On the other hand, the communities that the

University of Wisconsin-Madison are very general as the only specific is that they are within the

state. These communities can vary in size, gender, sex, ethnic groups, cultural groups, etc. When

one thinks about all the diversity within the state of Wisconsin the resources that the university

provides must be endless.

Conclusion

As one can see, if these two institutions have similarities and differences, one may

assume that all institutions across the United States would as well when it comes to their mission

statements and/or vision statements. Whether it is the similarities or the differences, either one

could be a deciding factor in whether or not a student decides to attend that specific institution.

Therefore, many universities are strategic about what their mission statement advertises as this is

a very crucial component in their advertising and recruiting strategies.

6

References

Stanford University. (2019, May). Stanford: Our vision. https://ourvision.stanford.edu/

University of Wisconsin-Madison. (1988, June 10). Mission.

https://www.wisc.edu/about/mission/
7

Appendix

Stanford’s Long-Range Vision Statement

“Fueled by optimism, ingenuity, and a sense of responsibility, we seek to accelerate our

purposeful impact in the world. The scale and urgency of challenges facing us today require that

Stanford reach farther and move faster to accelerate our purposeful impact in the world. We need

a new way of working that enables us to tackle long-standing issues facing our society and our

planet and allows us to be nimble when faced with unexpected threats. Our vision amplifies

Stanford’s contributions through a new model for research universities: accelerating the creation

and application of knowledge to tackle the world’s great problems, anchoring research and

education in ethics and civic responsibility, and promoting access and inclusion.

The strategic imperative of embedding ethics in everything we do is integrated across Our

Vision, which is focused on:

- Accelerating Solutions to the world’s most pressing problems

- Enhancing our Knowledge of the world and ourselves

- Advancing Education for our students

- Supporting our diverse Community of faculty, students, and staff”

University of Wisconsin-Madison Mission Statement

“The primary purpose of the University of Wisconsin-Madison is to provide a learning

environment in which faculty, staff, and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and

transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help ensure the survival of this and future

generations and improve the quality of life for all. The university seeks to help students to

develop an understanding and appreciation for the complex cultural and physical worlds in
8

which they live and to realize their highest potential of intellectual, physical, and human

development. It also seeks to attract and serve students from diverse social, economic, and ethnic

backgrounds and to be sensitive and responsive to those groups which have been underserved by

higher education. To fulfill its mission, the university must:

1. Offer broad and balanced academic programs that are mutually reinforcing and

emphasize high quality and creative instruction at the undergraduate, graduate,

professional, and postgraduate levels.

2. Generate new knowledge through a broad array of scholarly, research and creative

endeavors, which provides a foundation for dealing with the immediate and long-range

needs of society.

3. Achieve leadership in each discipline, strengthen interdisciplinary studies, and pioneer

new fields of learning.

4. Serve society through coordinated statewide outreach programs that meet continuing

educational needs in accordance with the university’s designated land-grant status.

5. Maintain a level of excellence and standards in all programs that will give them

statewide, national, and international significance.

6. Embody, through its policies and programs, respect for, and commitment to the ideals of

a pluralistic, multiracial, open and democratic society.”