UW–Madison Saves Students $1M Annually With Top Hat

With cost barriers removed, UW–Madison sees rapid expansion of active learning across disciplines.

TORONTO – January 7, 2026 – Through a strategic partnership with Top Hat, the leader in student engagement solutions for higher education, the University of Wisconsin–Madison has eliminated student costs for using the platform while accelerating adoption of evidence-based teaching practices like active learning and frequent low-stakes assessment across courses. Over the past year, the university’s enterprise license agreement with Top Hat has saved students more than $1 million while empowering educators to deepen student engagement and learning outcomes at scale.

“Affordability and instructional excellence are top priorities for our institution,” said Kristy Bergeron, UW–Madison Learn@UW Associate Director in Academic Technology. “Top Hat is helping us directly support educators by giving them the tools they need to teach with confidence, creativity, and impact. As more faculty adopt the platform, students benefit through deeper engagement and meaningful cost savings.”

Strong satisfaction among educators and students was a key driver in the decision to move to an enterprise model. In a recent survey1 94% of UW–Madison students said they would want their instructors to use Top Hat again, while 85% reported that Top Hat helped them feel more engaged in the learning process. Since implementing the license agreement in 2022, the number of educators and students using Top Hat has more than doubled, with a 30% increase in the number of courses using Top Hat over the past year alone. The rapid growth in adoption has been fueled by the removal of cost barriers and a close partnership between Top Hat and UW–Madison’s Instructional Technology Group, which provided coordinated outreach and hands-on support to help faculty succeed.

“The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a champion for active learning as a pathway for stronger student success,” said Maggie Leen, CEO of Top Hat. “This partnership empowers educators with the support and tools they need to deepen engagement, boost persistence and elevate learning outcomes. We’re proud to be part of their journey.”

Top Hat’s steady release of new features is making it easier for UW–Madison faculty to increase the impact of their instruction, while reducing time and effort. With Ace, Top Hat’s AI-powered teaching and learning assistant, educators can instantly generate interactive polls, quizzes, and reflection prompts to promote active learning and frequent assessment in online and in-person lectures. These tools save valuable preparation time, while helping create more engaging, active learning environments that support student success.

About Top Hat

Grounded in learning science and powered by AI, Top Hat is the leader in student engagement solutions for higher education. We enable educators to adopt evidence-based teaching practices through interactive content, tools, and activities across in-person, online, and hybrid classrooms. Top Hat also provides access to thousands of digital textbooks and OER resources, along with authoring tools that let instructors customize or create their own accessible, interactive course materials. More than 1,500 institutions and thousands of faculty use Top Hat to support the learning of over three million students each year. To learn more, please visit tophat.com.