We're excited to welcome Iowa's incoming class of 2026! At 5,266 students, the University of Iowa’s 2026 incoming class marks the fifth consecutive incoming group of more than 5,000 students. The students also make up one of Iowa’s highest-achieving incoming classes, with an average high school grade-point average of 3.87, up from 3.86 last year.

The incoming class is made up of 5,266 students from around the world. One-fifth of the class is first-generation students, and 17% are from rural areas. Just over half (2,670) are Iowa residents.

The incoming students were welcomed to Iowa during Kickoff at Kinnick on Aug. 21. Speaking to his first-year peers, Joseph Mullen, a finance and entrepreneurship major from Dubuque, Iowa, invoked the stadium's namesake, Nile Kinnick, Iowa's 1939 Heisman Trophy winner who died while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

“When you wake up tomorrow morning, you have the choice to serve yourself or to serve those around you. You have the freedom to do what you believe is right, choose who you want to be, choose what you want to be,” Mullen said. “I challenge myself and every single one of you to go through these next four years as a part of something greater.”