Iowa State University
Iowa State University is located in Ames, Iowa. It is a public, 4-year or above institution.
From Wikipedia: Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the nation’s first designated land-grant institutions when the Iowa Legislature accepted the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act on September 11, 1862. On July 4, 1959, the college was officially renamed Iowa State University of Science and Technology. Iowa State is the second largest university in Iowa by total enrollment. The university’s academic offerings are administered through eight colleges, including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Engineering, the Graduate College, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the College of Design, Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business, and the College of Human Sciences. They offer over 100 bachelor’s degree programs, 120 master’s degree programs, and 80 doctoral degree programs, plus a professional degree program in Veterinary Medicine. Iowa State is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity.” The university is affiliated with the Ames National Laboratory, the Biorenewables Research Laboratory, the Plant Sciences Institute, and various other research institutes. Iowa State University’s athletic teams, the Cyclones, compete in Division I of the NCAA and are a founding member of the Big 12.
Notes
These are items that bear looking into more closely.
- This institution’s six year bachelors graduation rate is 74.4%, so approximately 3/10 of undergrads who enroll do not earn a bachelors degree from here.
Overview of institution
This, and the rest of the page, use info from the most recent year available, generally 2023.
Institution kind: Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity
Undergrad program: Professions plus arts & sciences, high graduate coexistence
Graduate program: Research Doctoral: Comprehensive programs, with medical/veterinary school
Enrollment profile: High undergraduate (see more details below)
Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: $15,310 . This is 80% the average cost of Harvard.
Actual price for your family: Go here to see what your family may be asked to pay. It can be MUCH lower than the average price but also higher for some.
Size and setting: Four-year, large, primarily residential
In state percentage: 52% of first year students come from Iowa
In US percentage: 97% of first year students come from the US
Graduation rate (within 6 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 74.4% (this is what is usually reported as “graduation rate”)
Graduation rate (within 4 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 51.5%
Percent of students seeking a Bachelors who transfer out of this institution: 18.1%
Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: 21.3 (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]
Student to faculty ratio: 16.5 (undergrads to all faculty)
Degrees offered: Certificate of at least 2 years but less than 4 years, Bachelor’s degree, Postbaccalaureate certificate, Master’s degree, Post master’s certificate, Doctor’s degree: research scholarship, Doctor’s degree: professional practice
Schedule: Semester
Institution provides on campus housing: Yes
Dorm capacity: There are enough dorm beds for 10140 students
Freshmen required to live on campus: No
Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes
Disabilities: 8.17 percent of undergrads are registered as having disabilities.
Map
Comparisons
The sections below show this institution compared with others. The ones listed are ones it has identified as peers, who consider themselves peers, and/or who the federal government considers peers. If a comparison school has the same value as the focal school, its cell is grayed out. In fields where there is a common view that higher (or lower) values are better, the best values are in blue, the worst values are in red. If there isn’t a sense of a particular value being better, values are shown in varying shades of green. Arrows show where there is a signficant trend over time for a school. You can swipe across the table to see more of it; the focal school column is always visible.
- Iowa State University lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Virginia-Main Campus, Florida State University, University of Georgia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Purdue University-Main Campus, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus, Stony Brook University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus, Texas Tech University, University of Missouri-Columbia, Michigan State University, Oklahoma State University-Main Campus, University of Delaware, University of Arkansas, Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Colorado Boulder, Temple University, University of Kansas, University of Arizona, Oregon State University, Washington State University, Kansas State University, Colorado State University-Fort Collins, Ohio University-Main Campus, University of Mississippi, University of Idaho, New Mexico State University-Main Campus, University of Wyoming
- Iowa State University compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: University of California-Los Angeles, University of California-Berkeley, University of Florida, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The University of Texas at Austin, Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus, University of California-Irvine, University of California-San Diego, Texas A & M University-College Station, University of Washington-Seattle Campus, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of California-Davis, Ohio State University-Main Campus, University of Maryland-College Park, Auburn University, Clemson University, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus, University of South Florida, Binghamton University, University of Connecticut, Florida International University, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of South Carolina-Columbia, University of California-Santa Cruz, Indiana University-Bloomington, University of Houston, University at Buffalo, University of California-Riverside, University of Vermont, Arizona State University Campus Immersion, Georgia State University, The University of Alabama, University of Iowa, University of Cincinnati-Main Campus, University of Utah, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Nevada-Reno, Mississippi State University, University of Kentucky, University of North Texas, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Wayne State University, University of Rhode Island, University at Albany, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Oregon, West Virginia University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Kent State University at Kent, University of New Hampshire-Main Campus, The University of Texas at Arlington, Utah State University, University of Louisville, Northern Illinois University, University of New Mexico-Main Campus, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Toledo, Old Dominion University, University of Memphis, University of Maine, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, University of Southern Mississippi, CUNY Graduate School and University Center
- These institutions compare themselves to Iowa State University, but not vice versa: Brigham Young University, The University of Texas at Dallas, Montana State University, North Dakota State University-Main Campus
Enrollment
General
Teaching
Tenure track faculty are those who are eligible for tenure. This includes both pre-tenure and tenured faculty. Once faculty get tenure, they are (generally) protected from being fired for intellectual reasons, helping to ensure their freedom in teaching and research. They can still lose their positions for misconduct, financial problems, not fulfilling their duties, or other reasons.
Non-tenure track faculty are not eligible for tenure. Some are hired one semester at a time, some have multi-year contracts. They typically have a higher teaching load than tenure track faculty, leaving less time for research or other creative endeavors. They are also easier to fire than tenured faculty. Sometimes they are external experts (a noted musician, a former senator) who are hired to teach some classes without the expected permanence of a tenure-track position.
Note that this chart uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.
Having a low student to faculty ratio is considered a good thing by many, as it can mean more individual attention.
Geography
This has information on the location of the institution. See the about page for more information on what the metrics are and how they are calculated.
Financial Aid
Graduation
Note these are bachelors graduation rates in six years, not four (this is standard). Sample sizes can be small for some demographic groups with few individuals in a school, leading to large year-to-year fluctuations and often extreme values for those groups (if there are two individuals in the class with a given identity, the possible graduation rates are 0%, 50%, or 100% depending on whether zero, one, or both students graduate within six years).
Library
Libraries are changing rapidly. Note that how institutions count digital collections may vary.
Diversity
The US Census Bureau has a diversity index that goes from 0 to 1. In their words, “A 0-value indicates that everyone in the population has the same racial and ethnic characteristics. A value close to 1 indicates that everyone in the population has different racial and ethnic characteristics.” This uses their formula, but with the resolution available for the federal IPEDS data (which does not separate for a given demographic group whether members identify as Hispanic or not). This metric is about heterogeneity within the population, not the proportion of the population that comes from historically excluded groups.
Following the practice of the census, the index is multiplied by 100 to give the percentage probability a random pair of individuals will have a different background. Most institutions argue that diversity is a benefit, so by default a higher number is listed as better, but there may be cases where this measure does not reflect the mission of a college (for example, 70% of the students at a tribal college or university may be American Indian: that could be low-scoring by this metric but should not be read as “bad” given the institution’s mission).
These numbers are based on the most recent year available, generally 2023, which predates effects of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action. This has often changed, sometimes dramatically, the incoming student demographics at some institutions.
Overall diversity
Freshman profile
Demographic data for first time degree-seeking students. Note that this uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.
Freshman geography
Test scores
SAT scores
ACT scores
Majors
This presents information on the number of majors and the median earnings one and five years after graduation for people who got a degree from this institution in that field. The earnings are for those who are working and not enrolled in further education. The earnings data (from the federal college scorecard) also has information on earnings for those categorized as ‘MALE’ and ‘NOMALE’ – for readability, these are recategorized here as “Men” and “Women”, respectively, which adopts the gender binary used in other federal data. “W/M earnings ratio” is the median earnings of women divided by men, as a percentage.