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Iowa acceptance rate

University of Iowa · Iowa City, Iowa · Public · 22,264 undergraduates

83.6%
accepted, fall 2024
27,770
applications
23,222
offers of admission
5,208
enrolled (22% of those admitted)

Women applying for fall 2024 had better odds than men: 86% were admitted, against 81% of men. Iowa admits more of its applicants than the typical four-year college, where the median rate is 77%. University of Missouri, Columbia is the hardest to get into among the six schools closest to Iowa in size and selectivity (78%); Colorado State University, Fort Collins is the easiest (89%).

Acceptance rate since 2001

0%25%50%75%100%2001200320052007200920112013201520172019202120242001 85%2002 84%2003 82%2004 83%2005 84%2006 83%2007 83%2008 82%2009 83%2010 84%2011 80%2012 78%2013 80%2014 81%2015 81%2016 84%2017 86%2018 83%2019 83%2020 84%2021 86%2022 86%2023 85%2024 84%
Share of first-time, first-year applicants offered admission, by fall term.
Show the numbers by year
FallAppliedAdmittedRateEnrolled
202427,77023,22283.6%5,208
202325,68221,74684.7%5,064
202225,72922,12886.0%5,178
202122,43419,34086.2%4,521
202024,13220,33884.3%4,510
201925,92821,40482.6%4,986
201826,70622,07782.7%4,806
201727,73423,86286.0%5,027
201628,49423,96784.1%5,643
201526,22221,17180.7%5,241
201424,09719,50680.9%4,666
201321,64217,36380.2%4,460
201219,43015,24078.4%4,470
201118,93915,10579.8%4,565
201017,22014,43483.8%4,557
200915,06012,50383.0%4,063
200815,58212,82782.3%4,246
200714,67812,20983.2%4,287
200614,35011,88082.8%4,289
200513,24111,12284.0%3,849
200413,87411,54583.2%4,017
200313,33710,97982.3%4,083
200213,07911,03884.4%4,184
200111,83610,08985.2%4,005

Applications and offers

010k20k30k20012004200720102013201620192024AppliedAdmitted2001 Applied: 12k Admitted: 10k2002 Applied: 13k Admitted: 11k2003 Applied: 13k Admitted: 11k2004 Applied: 14k Admitted: 12k2005 Applied: 13k Admitted: 11k2006 Applied: 14k Admitted: 12k2007 Applied: 15k Admitted: 12k2008 Applied: 16k Admitted: 13k2009 Applied: 15k Admitted: 13k2010 Applied: 17k Admitted: 14k2011 Applied: 19k Admitted: 15k2012 Applied: 19k Admitted: 15k2013 Applied: 22k Admitted: 17k2014 Applied: 24k Admitted: 20k2015 Applied: 26k Admitted: 21k2016 Applied: 28k Admitted: 24k2017 Applied: 28k Admitted: 24k2018 Applied: 27k Admitted: 22k2019 Applied: 26k Admitted: 21k2020 Applied: 24k Admitted: 20k2021 Applied: 22k Admitted: 19k2022 Applied: 26k Admitted: 22k2023 Applied: 26k Admitted: 22k2024 Applied: 28k Admitted: 23k
First-year applications received and offers made, by fall term.

Acceptance rate for women and men

Fall 2024AppliedAdmittedRate
Women15,89713,63885.8%
Men11,8089,53780.8%

SAT, ACT and test policy

Test scores in admission
Considered if submitted (test-optional)
SAT reading and writing
570 to 670 (middle 50% of enrolled students)
SAT math
560 to 660
ACT composite
21 to 28

Colleges similar to Iowa

The six public four-year colleges closest to Iowa in acceptance rate and undergraduate enrollment.

CollegeAcceptance rateUndergraduatesAvg net priceEarnings after 10 yrs
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA		80%20,970$23,058$71,027
Ohio University
Athens, OH		85%19,633$20,666$61,938
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR		88%20,497$22,547$66,990
Kent State University at Kent
Kent, OH		86%19,320$20,294$51,178
Colorado State University, Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO		89%25,538$22,247$66,947
University of Missouri, Columbia
Columbia, MO		78%23,929$21,142$69,958

Admissions counts are first-time, first-year applicants reported by Iowa to IPEDS for each fall term (2001 to 2024), read from the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. Test score ranges and policy come from the College Scorecard. College Scorecard data updated November 2, 2026. How these figures are built · Iowa on College Scorecard