*Due to a record-breaking number of applications already received for the UW Odyssey Project Class of 2024, we are moving the priority deadline to apply from July 1 to June 1, 2023. Those eligible applicants who apply by June 1 will be invited for an interview.
Odyssey celebrates 20 years!
The 2022-2023 academic year marked the 20th anniversary of the UW Odyssey Project! Click the image to watch our new mini-documentary in celebration of our anniversary, or click the blue button below to learn more about Odyssey’s Programs.
Welcome
The award-winning UW-Madison Odyssey Project takes a whole family approach to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through access to education, giving adult and youth learners a voice, and increasing confidence through reading, writing, and speaking.
Now in its 20th year, this inspirational project has empowered more than 500 low-income adults to find their voices and get a jump start at earning college degrees they never thought possible. Some graduates of the program have journeyed from homelessness to UW-Madison degrees, or from incarceration to meaningful work in the community.
In this six-credit English literature course, UW-Madison faculty members introduce adults to great works of literature, philosophy, history, and art and help them improve skills in writing and critical thinking. In class, students read, write about, and engage in lively discussions of Emily Dickinson, Martin Luther King, Walt Whitman, Shakespeare, Lorraine Hansberry, and more.
The Odyssey Course
Overcoming adversity and achieving dreams through higher education
Onward Odyssey
Supporting Odyssey alumni on their continued journey
Odyssey Beyond Wars
Serving veterans with the transition from military to civilian life
Odyssey Junior
Extending literacy and enrichment to the next generation
Odyssey Beyond Bars
Providing Odyssey courses to students in prison
Odyssey Senior
Celebrating the stories of Odyssey elders through an enrichment program
Watch a documentary about the Odyssey Project that aired on the Big Ten Network!
Your support enables whole families to participate in Odyssey, helping to break a cycle of generational poverty. Make a gift today!
I am blessed to be in the Odyssey Project. This is my bridge towards breaking a horrible cycle of poverty. Everything that I learn I come back after class and teach my children about. My hope is that they retain this amazing information so that they recognize how amazing they are and how much they are loved.
Charllienne Cotto, Odyssey Class of 2014
Odyssey in the news
Check out articles about the Odyssey Project featured in the Capital Times, Isthmus, Madison Magazine, Wisconsin State Journal, In Business Madison, and more!
Join our mailing list
Use this form to join the UW Odyssey Project mailing list. Sign up to receive just emails, just print mailings, or both.