University of Iowa drops out of top 100 in new U.S. News national college rankings

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa for the first time since being included in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual best college rankings in 2004 has fallen out of the top 100 universities nationally, dropping four spots from No. 98 last year to No. 102.

It also dropped to No. 49 among public universities in the U.S. News rankings from No. 46 last year and No. 33 in 2022. A decade ago, in the 2015 edition, UI ranked No. 27 among public universities and No. 71 among all universities nationally — after debuting in the rankings more than two decades ago at No. 57 nationally.

But it continues to be recognized as the best public university for writing and communication in the latest set of rankings, tying at No. 10 in the disciplines nationally.

And UI administrators in response to the rankings stressed their campus’ focus on offering an accessible, “world-class education.”

“At the University of Iowa, we had record applications and the second-largest class in our history,” Pete Matthes, UI senior adviser to the president and vice president for external relations, told The Gazette. “In other words, parents and students have voted with their feet.

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“As for the list-makers — too often they are substituting an algorithm for what families measure: access, achievement, and careers.”

Iowa State University in the new rankings made modest improvement to No. 117 nationally, up four spots from No. 121 last year — but well below its 2004 debut on the rankings at No. 87 nationally.

Among public universities, Iowa State tied for No. 57 on the new list — up from last year’s No. 61.

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And while the University of Northern Iowa isn’t ranked nationally or among the top public universities that offer more doctorate degrees, it climbed one spot in the new U.S. News’ Midwest regional rankings — breaching the top 10 from No. 11 last year.

Among just public universities in U.S. News’ Midwest regional rankings, UNI held steady at No. 2 — behind Truman State University in Missouri, which kept its top spot among publics in the region but dropped two places among all campuses, including private universities like No. 1-ranked Butler in Indiana.

Peer assessment

The 2026 rankings mark the 41st edition of U.S. News’ year-over-year benchmark commonly used by students and families deciding where to begin their higher education journey.

Given criticism of the rankings over the years — from low-quality data to subjective standards or metrics favoring wealthier campuses — U.S. News has adjusted its methodology annually, including in 2023 with its “most significant methodological change in the rankings' history.”

U.S. News that year based more than half an institution's rank on measures related to success in “enrolling and graduating students from all backgrounds with manageable debt and postgraduate success.” It also removed five factors: class size, faculty with terminal degrees, alumni giving, high school class standing, and proportion of graduates who borrow federal loans.

Both last year and this year, U.S. News used 17 ranking factors — including graduation rates, first-year retention, Pell graduation rates, financial resources per student, faculty salaries, and “peer assessment” — a reputational assessment weighted at 20 percent.

Out of 5, UI this year earned a peer assessment score of 3.6. Iowa State’s peer score was 3.2.

“Core methodology and weighting factors remained the same this year, but small portions of underlying data were adjusted to reflect evolving admissions considerations, cohort representation and student involvement,” according to a U.S. News press release on Tuesday.

“By considering students’ credit hours and increasing the minimum number of students for a cohort, the rankings deliver a view of institutional investment in students, and graduation and retention rates,” U.S. News Managing Editor for Education LaMont Jones said in a statement.

‘Students we lift up’

Looking at Iowa and Iowa State’s performance across specific metrics this year, UI ranked 89 in faculty salary and 86 in financial resources; Iowa State ranked 79 in faculty salaries and 134 in financial resources.

Lawmakers in recent years have pared back state support of Iowa’s public higher education — with the Legislature last year approving no general education increase for the regent universities. Those changes over time have flip-flopped the campus’ reliance on tuition and appropriations — where 77 percent of their general education funding came from the state in 1981, just 28 percent does today.

Conversely, where tuition accounted for 21 percent of the universities’ general education funding in 1981, it makes up 67 percent today.

The top-ranked public university for financial resources was University of California-Los Angeles, followed closely by University of Washington at No. 4 and University of Michigan at No. 8 — all Big Ten Conference peers of UI.

For full-time salary rank, UCLA again ranked No. 1 among public universities — followed in the top 10 by conference peers University of Illinois at No. 7 and University of Michigan at No. 9.

Making the top 10 in overall ranking among public universities were Big Ten campuses UCLA and Michigan — with Illinois and the University of Wisconsin tied at nearby No. 12, and conference peers Ohio State, Rutgers University, the Universities of Maryland and Washington, and Purdue University all making the top 20.

But Iowa is one of only five public universities ranked in the top 50 that admits more than 80 percent of its applicants.

“Too many rankings reward schools for how many students they turn away,” UI President Barbara Wilson said. “We are focused on how many students we lift up. The fact that we admit broadly and still retain more than 90 percent of our students shows we are delivering on our mission.”

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UI for this fall received more than 31,000 undergraduate applications, welcoming the second-largest incoming class in its history.

“We measure success the same way families do,” UI Provost and Executive Vice President Kevin Kregel said. “Are students staying on track, completing their degrees, and finding meaningful opportunities after graduation? Iowa is excelling across the measures that matter most.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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