Getting To Know: University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is an original member of the Big Ten. It’s hard for me to consider a flagship state university, one that has been a member of the Association of American Universities for over a century, to be a “hidden gem.”
But the University of Iowa has virtually everything that students will find at the more selective Big Ten universities, including those in the neighboring states of Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The university is attracting better students; Iowa’s four-year graduation rate cracked 60 percent beginning with the Class of 2024. Freshman retention has surpassed 90 percent for the past three entering classes.
I hope that you will listen to my interview with Lacey Patterson, Associate Director of National Recruitment, then read on! The University of Iowa is a very data rich school. So, I took a dive into the data and made a Pinterest page for you.
The University of Iowa is a ‘small school’ by Big Ten undergraduate population standards.
Among the public universities in the conference, only Nebraska and Oregon have fewer undergrads. The undergraduate population at the University of Iowa has approximately 22,000 students. That’s about half the number at Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue. One plus of serving fewer undergrads: nearly 80 percent of all classes at Iowa have fewer than 30 students. I checked out this number for Ohio State to compare; the number was 59 percent for that mega-school in Columbus.
The University of Iowa is also “small” in campus size relative to its sports conference rivals.
The community has an urban college town feel, though it is also divided by a river. I happen to like campuses where it is easy to walk into downtown for breaks from campus life. Iowa’s is one of the nicest in the Big Ten, at least from the virtual tours that I took. Within the Big Ten it felt most similar to Indiana University-Bloomington among schools that I have visited, but more similar to the University of Georgia. Iowa’s campus is larger than Indiana’s by about 200 acres and nearly three times the size of the Athens campus at the University of Georgia.
One hint if you like this school: get to know the fare-free bus systems. Parking near residence halls and classes looks tough here, Rentals can also get pricy if you’re looking for a short walk time to campus.
Greek life engages less than a quar of the undergraduate student body.terterarter That might be a good option for those who want to always be close to campus life versus being dependent on a bus.
The University of Iowa is not exceptionally selective, unless you want to be a nurse.
Across all undergraduate programs freshman acceptance rates exceed 80 percent.However, some programs are more selective, as Lacy pointed out in our conversation.
Iowa admits no more than 84 freshmen to their direct admission nursing program each year. US News has given the undergraduate program, a top-ten ranking, which has probably led to competition for sports. Reasonable tuition and fees for Iowa residents (less than $17,000 for the upcoming academic year for nursing) probably help as well.
Admissions across the university appear to be “test encouraged.”
Someone who is borderline without a score might be asked to write a personal statement. The individual undergraduate schools each have their own admissions standards This is commonplace at flagship state schools. The University of Iowa does something different called a Regent Admission Index. The Index for each school is tied to GPA, ACT/SAT scores and completion of prerequisite courses for the school. A minimum scores of 245 is required for Iowa residents applying to the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; for non-residents the minimum is 255.
Unlike other large schools that rely heavily on direct admission to programs such as business or engineering, Iowa freshmen can begin their education in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, then transfer into the schools of business, education and engineering later in their education. Iowa also has three undergraduate programs based at its medical school that re tough to find anywhere. These programs are in Medical Laboratory Sciences, Radiation Science and Nuclear Medical Technology.
Well over half of the Iowa undergraduate population is enrolled in Liberal Arts & Sciences.
The Tippee School of Business enrolled 11 percent of all undergrads in 2015. A decade later, Tippee had 17 percent of the population. Four of the five most popular majors are in Tippee: Finance (#1,), Marketing, Business Analytics & Information Systems and Enterprise Leadership. Engineering enrollment, however, dropped from 12 to seven percent. Interest in education has grown considerable since 2015. That year there were fewer than 400 undergrads in the school of education; there were over 1,000 in 2024. In the meantime the undergraduate student population has stayed about the same size.
Iowa is also known as a writer’s school, even at the undergraduate level.
No matter the matter there are many opportunities for Hawkeyes to improve upon their writing skills. Writing well will still be important for success in the job market, even as AI tools are getting greater use.
I really wonder why Iowa hasn’t grown as much I would think it would.
In some cases a flagship state university has benefited when the flagships in the neighboring states have become more selective. This will be especially true if such a school is price competitive. The University of Tennessee is a good example, and it went test mandatory recently. Yet the University of Iowa has not grown as the flagships in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin have become more selective. Undergraduate enrollment seems to fluctuate between 22,000 and 24,000. The number of applicants hit a low point in 2021 during the COVID pandemic.
However, the 2024 cycle showed that the number rebounded to its highest in eight years in 2024. Just over a fifth of accepted students over the past eight cycles have enrolled, typical for a flagship state school. Lacey told me that the university wants to keep the freshman classes the same size as they are now to help assure quality academic access and student services.
Here’s where my interview with Lacey was important, and she gave me good answers. One comment that I have heard outside of the university is that it is not as easy to get to Iowa City from other cities. You need to fly to Des Moines or Cedar Rapids, then travel to campus. Neither city is a destination for many one-stop flights. But the same can be said for Madison, Wisconsin and the twin cities of Urbana and Champaign, Illinois.
At this point, 41 percent of the undergraduates come from outside Iowa; the state places no limit on the percentage of non-residents who can attend the university. About half of a freshman class will come from outside Iowa. There are also posted standards for non-residents who wish to become Iowa residents.
The costs are reasonable for a flagship state school.
Iowa’s base tuition and fees, resident and non-resident, are the third lowest in the Big Ten after Nebraska and Purdue. Business, computer science, engineering and nursing students pay higher fees for their programs. However, Iowa offer merit scholarships to residents and non-residents that reduce charges. It’s doubtful that Iowa wlll cost less than Home State U for most out-of-state students. But it can be a reasonably priced alternative for students who cannot get into Home State University. One positive: about half of the graduates in the Class of 2024 graduated with no debt at all.
There’s plenty for anyone to do in this community.
I watched several YouTubes about Iowa City as well as the university. Iowa City is known as a writer’s city because of the world renown Iowa Writer’s Workshop, but I could see that there were plentiful dining and entertainment options for students and residents. The performing arts facilities on campus are impressive. My friend, Kate Ryan, visited this campus, and she was impressed by some of the public art, which you can see below.
But this might not be your best college home if you don’t like cold weather. It’s colder in January and February here than it would be in New Jersey.
Here are two aerial photos of the campus and community that Lacey wanted to share, thanks to Lacey Patterson.
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I subscribe to the online newspapers for most of the Big Ten schools. The Daily Iowan is probably the most informative, because it covers the full community, not just the campus. My sense is that all kinds of political views are present in the community without excessive hostilities between them.
The University of Iowa has had many athletic successes.
The highest profile have lately been in women’s basketball. Even this past season, after legendary star Caitlin Clark graduated and went pro and coach Lisa Bluder retired, the women’s basketball team went 23-11 and went through two rounds in the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. in 2024, Clark’s last season on campus, Iowa ranked second in attendance in the country, averaging nearly 11,000 fans per home game per home game. A year later, the Hawkeues averaged nearly 9,800 fans per home game, still high for a women’s basketball program.
The Hawkeyes compete in 23 D-1 varsity scholarship sports.
In addition to women’s basketball, the football and wrestling programs have done quite well. The football Hawkeyes have played in 22 bowl games since 2000, winning 10. They have also won two conference titles, three division titles and earned 11 top 25 rankings. The Hawkeyes have also supplied considerable talent to the NFL, especially at the offensive line and tight end positions. I dropped two photos of the festive atmosphere of a football game below.
The fans also have one of the more touching traditions in college football: they wave to the patients at the children’s hospital adjacent to the stadium during every home game. The team sells out every seat, making this quite a wave. The Hawkeye faithful also go all out for homecoming, as you will see below.
The Hawkeyes are even more dominant in men’s wrestling, having won 37 conference titles and 24 NCAA National Championships. This year the University of Iowa has also become the first D-1 power conference school that will offer a women’s wrestling program.
Conclusion
I really like the University of Iowa. It has the resources and spirit that I would expect from a public Big Ten school at a more reasonable price and a less intimidating environment than most in the conference. There’s achievable admissions, fun, learning and bang for the buck here that’s tough to beat
Listen to my conversation with Lacey Patterson now!
The Report Card for the University of Iowa
- Four-Year/Six-Year Graduation Rates: B/B
- Freshman Retention: A
- Costs:B+
- Comforts: B+
- Community: A
- Curriculum: A
- Connections: A
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