University of Iowa

In brief

The University of Iowa, founded in 1847, is the state’s public flagship, with its main campus in Iowa City around the Old Capitol, the first seat of state government. By our measure of academic influence, it ranks #42 in the United States and #120 in the world. It admitted 83.6% of applicants for fall 2024; admitted students had a median SAT score of 1230 and a median ACT score of 24.

Where Iowa’s influence is strongest

Iowa’s single strongest field is literature, where it ranks #12 in the US (#28 in the world), a reflection of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the writers it has trained and employed. Its other leading fields are psychology (#19) and communications (#30).

In two specialties Iowa ranks near the top: it is #1 in the US in hydraulic engineering, home of the IIHR–Hydroscience & Engineering institute, which grew out of a hydraulics laboratory opened in 1919, and #5 in clinical psychology. It is also #4 in orthodontics. By comparison, Iowa sits further back in computer science (#97) and criminal justice (#137).

How we measure influence: these ranks come from the citations and recognition earned by a school’s faculty and alumni in each discipline, not from surveys or admissions statistics. See our methodology.

Notable people

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop counts among its students and teachers Flannery O’Connor, Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving, Raymond Carver, Rita Dove, and Marilynne Robinson. Other Iowa-connected figures include the playwright Tennessee Williams, the novelist Wallace Stegner, the physicist James Van Allen, the pollster George Gallup, the journalist Tom Brokaw, and Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Our full lists of Iowa’s most influential alumni and faculty appear below.

Frequently asked questions

Is Iowa hard to get into? No. It admitted 83.6% of applicants for fall 2024; the middle half of admitted students scored 570–670 on the SAT reading section and 560–660 on math.

What does Iowa cost after financial aid? Tuition is $11,622 for Iowa residents and $33,710 for out-of-state students in 2025–26. The average net price for aided students with family incomes of $48,000–$75,000 was $17,179 in 2024–25; it ranged from about $15,353 for incomes below $30,000 to $26,721 for incomes above $110,000.

How do Iowa graduates do? 75.8% of students who started in 2019 graduated within six years, and 90% of first-year students return for a second year. Ten years after starting college, former students had median earnings of $70,727.

What is Iowa best known for academically? By our influence data: creative writing and literature, psychology, and hydraulic engineering, where it ranks first in the country.