Iowa State University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Iowa State University

Iowa State University operates as a public institution located in Ames, Iowa (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 25,367 students of which 26,641 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Iowa State University is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 88.7%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,204 and an ACT midpoint of 25. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $18,589, with published in-state tuition of $10,787 and a Pell grant recipient share of 18.8%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $22,869, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 75.4%, and the first-year retention rate is 87.6%. Graduates earn a median of $63,386 ten years after enrolling, compared with $53,873 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 923200.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 79.0% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.