University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (2025)

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College costs continue to rise and student loan debt has many high schoolers looking at other plans for after they graduate.

CEDAR FALLS — The University of Northern Iowa continues to be seeded at the top of the list for regional public universities in the Midwest.

UNI ranks second on the 2023-24 U.S. News Best Colleges list. It has held the position for four years straight. Missouri’s Truman State University remains at number one.

For regional universities, which includes public and private institutions, UNI is ranked 11th out of 164 schools.

The publication defines regional universities as institutions that offer a full range of undergraduate programs as well as providing graduate education at the master’s level.

The state’s two national universities, the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, both fell in their rankings. UI dropped five points to being the 98th overall national university, while ISU dropped six points to 121st.

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When looking at only public national universities, UI ranked 50th and ISU 63rd. Last year they ranked 35th and 61st respectively.

National universities are public and private schools that have more doctoral programs than their regional counterparts. They also focus more on research and receive federal money to support that.

The top national university is Princeton University in New Jersey while the top public national university is University of California-Los Angeles.

The rankings rank 1,500 institutions that provide four-year bachelor’s degrees based on 17 measures of academic quality. The most weighted ranking indicators include graduation rates, retention rates and peer assessments.

UNI’s first year retention rate remained the same as last year at 84%. The graduation rate also stayed the same at 69%.

The student-to-faculty rate is higher than last year, about 17 students to 1 instructor. UNI’s median student debt is the 25th lowest of the midwestern universities at $19,961. More than 110 of these regional institutions have a median debt of more than $20,000.

Upper Iowa University in Fayette, which has a Waterloo campus, is ranked with other Midwest regional universities in the 149-164 range.

Wartburg College in Waverly, a national liberal arts college, was ranked 158 – two spots lower than last year.

National liberal arts colleges are defined as institutions that focus on undergraduate education that award at least 50% of their degrees in arts and sciences.

More information can be found at usnews.com/best-colleges.

Best colleges in America

Best colleges in America

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (1)

#100. University of South Carolina

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (3)

#99. Drexel University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (4)

#98. Auburn University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (5)

#96. University of Utah

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (6)

#94. Indiana University Bloomington

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (7)

#93. Binghamton University State University of New York

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (8)

#91. University of Rochester

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (10)

#89. Florida International University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (11)

#87. University of Connecticut

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (12)

#86. Trinity University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (13)

#85. George Washington University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (14)

#84. Colgate University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (15)

#83. Macalester College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (16)

#81. William & Mary

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (17)

#80. Bates College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (18)

#78. Vassar College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (19)

#77. University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (20)

#76. Case Western Reserve University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (21)

#74. Wesleyan University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (22)

#72. The Ohio State University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (23)

#68. Haverford College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (24)

#67. North Carolina State University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (25)

#66. University of Minnesota Twin Cities

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (26)

#65. Virginia Tech

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (27)

#63. Wake Forest University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (28)

#62. University of California, Santa Barbara

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (29)

#60. University of South Florida

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (30)

#59. University of Wisconsin

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (31)

#56. University of Miami

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (32)

#55. Purdue University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (33)

#52. Bowdoin College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (35)

#51. Washington and Lee University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (36)

#50. University of Georgia

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (37)

#49. University of California, Davis

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (38)

#48. Wellesley College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (39)

#47. University of Washington

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (40)

#46. Middlebury College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (41)

#44. Barnard College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (42)

#43. University of California San Diego

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (43)

#42. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (44)

#41. University of Texas at Austin

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (45)

#40. University of California, Irvine

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (46)

#39. Davidson College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (47)

#38. Swarthmore College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (48)

#36. University of Notre Dame

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (49)

#34. New York University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (50)

#33. Emory University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (51)

#32. University of Florida

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (52)

#31. Northeastern University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (53)

#29. University of Southern California

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (54)

#27. University of Virginia

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (55)

#26. Georgia Institute of Technology

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (56)

#25. Boston University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (57)

#24. Pomona College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (58)

#23. Carnegie Mellon University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (59)

#22. Princeton University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (60)

#21. The University of Chicago

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (61)

#20. Washington University in St. Louis

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (62)

#19. Harvey Mudd College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (63)

#18. University of Michigan

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (64)

#17. Cornell University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (65)

#16. University of California, Los Angeles

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (66)

#15. Rice University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (67)

#14. California Institute of Technology

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (68)

#13. Duke University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (69)

#8. Brown University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (70)

#7. Dartmouth College

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (71)

#4. Columbia University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (72)

#1. Yale University

University of Northern Iowa remains one of the top regional colleges in the Midwest (73)

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