116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Vanessa Miller
I’ve covered lots of beats over my decades as a reporter, and one reason I really enjoy higher education is because it touches on them all. One day I’m writing about science and interviewing University of Iowa NASA researchers, the next I’m writing about health care, or agriculture, or a new Iowa State-supported business, or athletic budgets, or criminal justice, or the Legislature and potential bills affecting Iowa’s university and college campuses. I also love that I get to investigate and dig deep on some stories, report hard news, and then also share incredible and sometimes harrowing tales of survival or discovery. When I’m not working, I’m playing with my kids or following them around to wrestling tournaments. Get the news delivered right to your inbox.
Latest Articles by Vanessa Miller
Higher Ed Jun. 11, 2024 7:37 am552d ago
The instructors — including a brother of Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City — were with a faculty member of the partner institution when the attack occurred, according to Cornell, which has been in contact with the instructors and is helping them.
Higher Ed Jun. 10, 2024 7:40 am553d ago
Following years of planning, fundraising challenges, negotiations, discord, and compromise, Iowa State University is seeking Board of Regents approval to enter into a “creative” agreement with the City of Ames to help finance a new $200 million CyTown development and maintain four ISU buildings central to its arts and entertainment core.
Higher Ed Jun. 10, 2024 7:57 am553d ago
School’s out for summer for many of Iowa’s college and university students, but that doesn’t mean work has stopped across the sprawling campuses — where hard hats have replaced commencement caps and skid loaders have taken the place of scooters.
Higher Ed Jun. 8, 2024 9:22 am555d ago
A federal bankruptcy judge on Friday afternoon confirmed a Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for the former Mercy Iowa City hospital, despite push back from its former managing partner MercyOne — which now, under the plan, remains exposed to future lawsuits.
Higher Ed Jun. 7, 2024 7:40 am556d ago
Years after first initiating a plan to expand its maternity services — which delivered nearly 3,000 babies in 2023 — University of Iowa Health Care next week will seek Board of Regents permission to pursue a $74 million, 30,000-square-foot renovation for expanded labor, delivery, and postpartum patient care.
Higher Ed Jun. 7, 2024 7:21 am557d ago
The criminal trial of a former University of Iowa student and fraternity brother arrested in connection with an alleged 2020 sexual assault, which was supposed to start this week, has been postponed pending a related civil trial.
Higher Ed Jun. 5, 2024 5:30 am559d ago
The University of Iowa is eyeing an expansion and renovation of its Tippie College of Business — with the project to expand and modernize both the Pappajohn Business Building and nearby Gilmore Hall expected to cost $45 to $60 million.
Higher Ed Jun. 4, 2024 4:54 pm559d ago
To settle a lawsuit scheduled for trial in May, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has agreed to pay $3.5 million to the family of one of two Iowa State University students who died three years ago on Little Wall Lake during a crew club accident.
Higher Ed Jun. 4, 2024 7:34 am560d ago
A month since several regents and lawmakers criticized Iowa’s public universities for keeping too close to the vest details on their progress to pare down diversity, equity, and inclusion functions, the University of Iowa has shared a campuswide update on its new “Division of Access Opportunity & Diversity.”
Higher Ed Jun. 3, 2024 9:16 am560d ago
After 20 years leading Loras College – the state’s oldest campus, founded in 1839, seven years before Iowa became a state in 1846 – James E. Collins next year will retire as the college’s longest-serving president and one of the longest-serving of any president to have led any college or university in Iowa.
Crime & Courts May. 31, 2024 9:22 pm563d ago
An Iowa City man — with an accumulating history of protest-styled political activism — is suing the University of Iowa, its police, and a public records officer for a lack of what he characterized as legally-required transparency around his December police encounter.
Higher Ed May. 31, 2024 7:39 am563d ago
The day University of Iowa administrators announced women’s gymnastics head coach Larissa Libby had resigned — more than a month after placing her on paid administrative leave following an external program review — they signed a settlement paying her a total $449,000, plus a final payout of her $173,349 salary.
Higher Ed May. 30, 2024 7:32 am565d ago
The executive assistant to Iowa State University’s senior vice president for operations and finance — a recently-hired top administrator who left in December after signing a $124,000 separation agreement — has agreed to settle harassment and retaliation allegations for the same amount.
Higher Ed May. 29, 2024 7:28 am566d ago
The University of Iowa’s longest-serving dean, heading toward retirement after 17 years, now has a successor — with a six-month search landing University of Kentucky research professor Jill M. Kolesar.
Higher Ed May. 28, 2024 9:40 am566d ago
The number of Free Applications for Federal Student Aid filed across Iowa still is well below previous years – including last year, when the state’s FAFSA numbers on May 10 were 16 percent above where they were on that date this year.

Daily Newsletters