Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 11.4-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 292 Title IV programs, 80 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 2 fail. 210 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing80 · 27.4%
- No Data210 · 71.9%
- Failing2 · 0.7%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Higher Learning Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 39
Action history · 67
- Aug 2025Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewAmerican Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology (OMR)
- Feb 2025Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar · Law (LAW) - Professional schools
- Jan 2025Renewal of AccreditationAccreditation Council for Pharmacy Education · Pharmacy (PHAR) - Professional degree programs
- Dec 2023Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: OtherCommission on English Language Program Accreditation · English Language
- Jun 2023Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary WithdrawalAssociation for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc., Accreditation Commission · (SCPE) - Clinical pastoral education (CPE) centers offering CPE and supervisory CPE programs
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 4,711 students received $26.6M in Pell grants, alongside $196.9M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 5,174 borrowers who entered repayment, 66 (1.2%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at University of Iowa
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 14
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus156
- Non-campus13
- Public property56
Includes 22 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Race6
- Religion6
- Gender identity1
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- Mayflower Hall3 firesBurnt Bulletin Board - burn marks to the backing paper covering a bulletin board in a public hallway. Based on similar incidents in the past, the burning was consistent with damage from an open flame, more than likely a lighter of some type.Damage $0-$99
- Mayflower Hall3 firesOpen flamesDamage $0-$99
- Mayflower Hall3 firesDamage $0-$99
- Burge Hall1 fireCookingDamage $0-$99
- 260 Hawkeye Court B41 fireOtherDamage $100-$999
Data quality: 18 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
University of Iowa vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions University of Iowa selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectUniversity of Iowa | 75% | — | 30,779 | $22,531 | R1 Research |
| 75% | 88.7% | 30,380 | $18,589 | R1 Research | |
| 75% | 78.5% | 31,543 | $20,268 | R1 Research | |
| 69% | 93.5% | 29,792 | $18,059 | R1 Research | |
| 67% | 87.5% | 24,393 | $17,747 | R1 Research | |
| 71% | 81.7% | 20,295 | $19,406 | R1 Research | |
| Peer group median | 73% | 87.5% | 30,086 | $18,998 |
Institutions like University of Iowa
Explore the federal data for institutions in University of Iowa's comparison group.
- R1 ResearchIowa
Iowa State University
Grad rate75%Admit rate88.7%Enrollment30,380Net price$18,589View data - R1 ResearchMissouri
University of Missouri-Columbia
Grad rate75%Admit rate78.5%Enrollment31,543Net price$20,268View data - R1 ResearchKansas
University of Kansas
Grad rate69%Admit rate93.5%Enrollment29,792Net price$18,059View data - R1 ResearchNebraska
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Grad rate67%Admit rate87.5%Enrollment24,393Net price$17,747View data - R1 ResearchKansas
Kansas State University
Grad rate71%Admit rate81.7%Enrollment20,295Net price$19,406View data
Common Data Set
University of Iowa's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Selectivity & Admissions
Admissions funnel
C131,454 applied → 25,131 admitted (79.9%) → 5,561 enrolled.
Selectivity
C1Accessible — 79.9% acceptance rate.
Admit rate by gender
C1Admit rate varies by gender.
SAT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% SAT 1130–1320 (median 1230).
ACT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% ACT 21–28 (median 25).
Waitlist outcome
C212 offered a waitlist spot, 1 accepted it, 1 admitted (100.0% of those who stayed on).
What matters in admission
C7Relative importance of each admission factor.
Affordability & Value
Where grant aid comes from
H138% of need-based grant dollars come from the institution itself.
Graduate debt
H4/H551% of graduates borrowed; those who did owed $32,536 on average.
Outcomes & Equity
Graduation & retention
B6-year graduation rate 76%; first-year retention 91%.
Equity: Pell graduation gap
B4Pell-grant recipients graduate 12 pts below the overall rate (64% vs 76%).
Academic Experience
Class-size distribution
I349% of classes have under 20 students; 15% have 50+.
Faculty profile
IKey faculty indicators.
Degrees by discipline
JSTEM-dominant: ~15% of bachelor's degrees are in computing, engineering, math & sciences.
Student Body & Diversity
Undergraduate race/ethnicity
B2Undergraduate enrollment by race/ethnicity.
International students
B21% of undergraduates are international (nonresident).
Undergrad vs graduate
B123,407 undergraduates and 8,156 graduate students.
Transfer Path
Transfer admissions
D12,489 transfer applicants → 1,789 admitted (71.8%) → 1,033 enrolled — more selective than first-year admission.
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about University of Iowa
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about University of Iowa.
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About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
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