Thousands of Iowa students graduate this weekend

IOWA CITY — More than 4,100 students across Iowa’s three public universities are slated to graduate this weekend in fall ceremonies that, while smaller in size and hype than spring commencement, are no less momentous on a personal, professional and workforce level.

“It took a lot of focus, dedication and not giving up,” University of Iowa doctoral student Lauren Mudd told the UI Office of Strategic Communication about her pursuit of a biostatistics doctorate.

“I missed out on a lot of fun things while I just sat and worked,” Mudd, a mom of three, said. “It took a lot of sacrifices from everyone — myself, my husband, our kids.”

Mudd — who’ll continue working as a senior biostatistician with a research company specializing in clinical drug development — is among 1,707 UI degree applicants this fall, including 1,163 undergraduates and 544 graduate and professional students.

That’s on par with winter commencement numbers in recent years — including the 1,692 who graduated last year, the 1,829 in 2022 and the 1,799 in 2021.

Iowa State University is graduating a similar 1,763 students this fall, including 1,408 undergraduates and 355 masters and doctoral students. Like the UI, ISU’s fall commencement count is on par with last year, when it graduated 1,809, including 1,491 undergraduates.

The University of Northern Iowa has 664 degree applicants this fall, similar to last year’s 628. This weekend’s UNI graduate pool is 86 percent undergraduates, and 92 percent of all graduates are instate students — representing 80 Iowa counties.

“Among the graduates are 212 first-generation college students and 25 military veterans,” according to a UNI spokesman.

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‘Four years or less’

Spring commencement ceremonies typically involve two to three times the amount of students — with UI last May reporting 5,364 graduates; ISU counting nearly 4,600 and UNI with 1,410.

But the number of students graduating earlier than the typical four to six years is increasing, with the portion graduating in three years growing from 1 percent at all three campuses in 2000 to 5 percent at the UI, 6 percent at ISU and 9 percent at UNI, according to the Board of Regents’ most recent graduation rate report.

“The past 20 years have seen significant increases in the percentage of students who graduate in four years or less,” according to the report, noting, “regent universities continue to show steady growth in the percentage of students who graduate within three years.”

Given the varying sizes of the universities’ fall 2024 graduate cohorts, the UI has eight ceremonies this weekend. ISU is holding two main ceremonies — one for all graduate students Friday evening and another for all undergrads Saturday afternoon — plus additional convocations and receptions across its six undergraduate colleges.

And UNI is having one ceremony for all its colleges at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The UI ceremonies began Thursday and include a pair Friday for masters and doctoral graduates; two Saturday for graduates of the colleges of nursing and business; and three more Sunday — including the largest, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences commencement.

First generation

“I chose the University of Iowa because I wanted to go to a research school,” graduate Olivia Kopp told the UI Office of Strategic Communication. “I like the idea of constantly finding out new things and learning more, so I wanted to go to a research school specifically.”

Kopp, of Dubuque, is the first in her family to go to college and the first to get a degree — a bachelor’s in psychology, with plans to pursue a lab position before continuing on toward a graduate degree.

She’s been working in the Sleep and Behavioral Development Lab — led by Mark Blumberg, UI professor and chair of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences — and helping research how twitches in infants and toddlers during sleep contribute to development.

The university this fall is reporting a quarter of its graduating undergrads identify as first-generation students — like Kopp. About 11 percent have multiple majors, the most popular of which include economics, finance, elementary education and sport and recreation management.

The oldest UI degree applicant this winter is 70, and the youngest is 20.

‘Tooled to do it’

At ISU, Matt McGarry at 56 is getting his bachelor’s degree in agricultural studies — decades after attaining his first degree in business administration from a local community college and after spending years working in the agriculture and health care industries.

When his daughter graduated in 2020 from the university he had once hoped to attend — ISU — McGarry told ISU News Service, “If she can do that, maybe I can too.”

With the bachelor’s degree now in hand, McGarry has plans to start the dairy farm he’s always wanted, according to the news service.

“That’s always been my dream, but now I’m tooled to do it,” he said.

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Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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