Since switching from a “paper” to an online application process, the numbers of online applicants for the University of Wisconsin Graduate School has steadily increased.

UW spokesman John Lucas said the main purpose of this change is to reduce cost and time for both applicants and staff. In the past, applications and supporting materials were sent to various divisions within the school. This has increased costs for each student applying, leaving the staff to process an abundance of paper work instead of assisting students, he said.

If 16,000 prospective students applied under the former process with only 4,500 accepted, the department had to keep and file the extra 12,000 applications. Now, all materials will be mailed to the department or program to which they are applying, and applications will be managed through the Graduate Program website.

This will lead to a decrease in the confusion of sending materials to two places and thus will allow the staff to increase efficiency and time in serving these individuals, Kathleen Matthews-Risley, an outreach specialist in the school, said.

The previous process proved particularly problematic for international students.

“These prospective graduate students had to certify all financial documents and mail them to the university which was an extremely expensive process,” Lucas said, adding that now international students can simply use the Internet and send all needed materials and fees without large costs.

Since the school adopted the online application process, the number of applicants who utilize the system has grown. In 2001, 50 percent of applicants used the online applications. Now, 85 percent of the applicants send in their applications online.

Lucas is confident this rate will continue to grow in future years.

“These numbers will only increase until one day it will reach 100 percent and all students will apply online.”

UW decided to adopt an online application process after contacting peer institutions in the Big Ten to analyze their methods and get advice on online procedures. More universities are contemplating this change and are looking at UW as a possible example to follow, Matthews-Risley said.

In addition, Matthews-Risley thinks this electronic application process has already gained acceptance and should continue to grow over the next three years with new additions to the program.

“Someday everything will be online,” she said.

This change does not affect the undergraduate program. There are still no plans to make alterations in the undergraduate division, although applying online is encouraged for prospective students.

Prospective graduate students to the university can access the graduate website by visiting www.wisc.edu/grad/. Accommodations can be made for individuals who cannot use the Internet.