Wednesday, October 21, 2020

The University of Iowa is the 34th best public university in the nation and the top public school in the nation for writing, according to the annual rankings from U.S. News & World Reports. 

Iowa is the only school in the state to be ranked as a top 100 national university (#88 among all public and private institutions). U.S. News & World Reports ranks universities on a variety of indicators of academic quality in the following categories: student outcomes (such as rates of graduation and retention), assessment by academic peers, faculty resources, overall financial resources, ACT/SAT scores, high school class standing, and alumni giving. 

The university improved nationally in its peer assessment score from the leaders of other colleges and universities, as well as graduation and retention rates, percent of classes with fewer than 20 students and more than 50 students, student excellence rank, and first-year students in the top 10% of their high school graduating classes.

In a new ranking this year that recognizes the importance of teaching writing and communications in all disciplines, the University of Iowa was the top-ranked public institution and 13th overall. The ranking was determined by asking the top executives at more than 1,500 schools to nominate up to 15 institutions with stellar examples of writing in the disciplines. Colleges and universities that received 10 or more nominations were ranked.

The magazine also ranks undergraduate business and engineering programs. Among all public and private universities, the Tippie College of Business is ranked 32nd and the College of Engineering is ranked 69th among colleges that offer doctoral degrees. Among public universities, Tippie is ranked 21st and the College of Engineering is ranked 39th.

Iowa also ranked 56th on the Best Colleges for Veterans list, and the undergraduate computer science program ranked 71st.

The university also is among the colleges and universities ranked as a Best Value.

The full rankings and methodology can be found on the U.S. News website.