Best programs to become a real estate sales agent in Iowa
2 Iowa schools offer programs that train real estate sales agents, graduating 20 people a year. Iowa has about 680 jobs in this occupation (BLS OEWS May 2025).
You do not need a college degree to become a real estate sales agent. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Iowa is Real Estate (IPEDS completions). BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education.
Rent, buy, or sell property for clients. Perform duties such as study property listings, interview prospective clients, accompany clients to property site, discuss conditions of sale, and draw up real estate contracts.
1 program in Iowa that leads to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Iowa (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Iowa page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.1501In Iowa → | 20 | 100.0% | 2 | $53,788 | $20,765 |
Top 2 schools in Iowa
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 2 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA Public · 1 feeder program | 12 | Real Estate | $56,866 | 68% | — | 93% |
| 2 | Iowa State University Ames, IA Public · 1 feeder program | 8 | Real Estate | — | 75% | — | 89% |
All 2 schools in Iowa
Every school in Iowa with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Iowa State University | Ames | Public | 8 | 1 |
Fields of study in Iowa that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What real estate sales agents earn in Iowa
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Iowa
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Real Estate Sales Agents page.
How to become a real estate sales agent
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Iowa
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Real Estate Sales Agents2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 04.1001Real Estate Development
- 52.1501Real Estate
Common questions
Answers for people weighing real estate sales agents programs in Iowa.
What degree do you need to become a real estate sales agent?+
You do not need a college degree to become a real estate sales agent. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Iowa is Real Estate (IPEDS completions). BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education.
Which college majors lead to becoming a real estate sales agent?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Iowa is Real Estate (IPEDS completions). In all, 1 feeder program graduates about 20 people a year in Iowa (IPEDS completions).
Is demand for real estate sales agents growing?+
BLS projects a +3.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 36,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Iowa?+
2 institutions in Iowa reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do real estate sales agents work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Realtor, Sales Agent, Real Estate Agent, Realtor Associate among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 41-9022.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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