Iowa’s public universities report larger freshman classes

IOWA CITY — All three of Iowa’s public universities this fall are reporting larger freshman classes than last year — with both Iowa State and the University of Iowa, after peaking in 2016, boasting their second-largest first-year classes ever.

Both those campuses also have larger total enrollments this fall, while the University of Northern Iowa dipped from 9,283 last year to 9,204 this fall.

The UI total enrollment bump from 30,779 to 31,563 keeps it the largest of Iowa’s three public universities, with Iowa State’s tally climbing from 30,432 to 31,105.

But Iowa State has the bigger freshman class at 6,160 students — up from 5,906 last fall and nearly 22 percent over the 2020 low of 5,071. The UI first-year count of 5,561 likewise is up over last fall’s 5,208, and 23 percent higher than in 2020.

“With more than 31,454 applications from first-time, first-year students, the University of Iowa topped more than 31,000 applications for the first time ever,” according to the UI Office of Strategic Communication.

Two falls ago in 2023, 25,682 first-time undergraduate students applied to UI — 85 percent of whom were admitted, which was well above the 64-percent admission rate of Iowa’s peer institutions. A decade ago in fall 2015, 26,222 prospects applied, with 81 percent admitted — nearly double the UI peer rate of 47 percent.

Even so, the average high school grade point average of the UI freshman class continues to rise — from last fall’s record 3.83 to a new record-setting 3.86 this year.

“The University of Iowa had a record-setting admissions cycle for the fall of 2025,” UI Associate Vice President for Enrollment Brent Gage said. “Interest in attending the University of Iowa has never been greater, and this group of students represents talented students from Iowa, across the nation, and around the world,.”

Strong applicant pool

Stressing the increase in interest is not unique to Iowa, Gage pointed across the Association of American Universities — which includes 71 “distinguished public and private research universities.” UI remains the only Iowa-based AAU member after Iowa State exited in 2022.

“The application trend we saw this cycle is very common among our Big Ten and AAU peers,” Gage said, “as students are eager to experience all of the educational opportunities at a flagship, research university.”

UNI also noted a strong applicant pool.

“Based on applications received as of early September for admission in Fall 2026, students across the Midwest are showing increased interest in the University of Northern Iowa,” according to that campus’ communications team, citing a new neighboring state tuition program UNI launched over the summer offering instate rates to new undergraduate students from Iowa’s six contiguous states.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome our 150th class of UNI students to campus,” UNI President Nook said in a statement. “We are particularly encouraged that the numbers of our incoming freshmen, transfers and new graduate students have all increased compared to last year.”

In addition to UNI’s neighborly-state rate, it launched a new collaboration with community colleges three years ago — boosting participation in that program from 252 in its debut year of 2022 to 539 this year. Of its new transfer students this year, three-quarters came from one of Iowa’s community colleges.

“To date, 348 students have graduated through the UNI@IACC initiative since the program’s inception in Fall 2022,” according to UNI.

And its recent “Live 2 Succeed” promotion — encouraging students to live on campus by offering them a $1,000 scholarship for contracting for two years, along with priority room selection — also seems to be paying off.

“A total of 3,431 students have signed housing contracts for the 2024-25 academic year, the highest number of resident students since 2018 when 3,558 individuals lived on campus,” according to UNI officials. “Those numbers mean that 37.3 percent of UNI’s entire student body lives on campus, the highest percentage dating back to the 1999-2000 academic year.”

‘Gave me reassurance’

Iowa State also saw growth in its new transfer student numbers to 1,351 — with nearly 60 percent coming from Iowa community colleges thanks, in part, to programs like its DMACC-ISU Connect providing a seamless transition.

“It gave me reassurance and made me feel comfortable about transferring,” Paige Kaster told the ISU News Service about her transfer this fall after graduating from DMACC. “My adviser, Kelsey Powell, answered all my questions about transcripts, applications and classes, which really set my mind at ease.”

Among Iowa State’s first-year students, just over 20 percent are first-generation and 22 percent are eligible for a Pell grant based on their family finances. Similarly, this fall’s UI freshman class is 19 percent first-generation, with 2,879 coming from Iowa and 1,260 from rural areas.

This is a developing story. Check back for more details.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com