Iowa Colleges: Tuition, Debt & Earnings (2026 stats)

Analysis & insights

EDsmart Data aggregates institution-level College Scorecard data for this profile. Highlights below compare local medians to U.S. and regional benchmarks.

Costs & borrowing

Iowa median public in-state tuition is $6,525, about +18.4% vs the national median. Versus the Plains region, tuition is +4.8%.

Median graduate debt is $14,745 (+9.8% above the U.S. median of $13,432, and -15.7% vs the Plains regional median of $17,500). Low sticker prices do not always mean low borrowing—living costs, time-to-degree, and aid mix matter.

Student debt rank: #29 nationally of 48 (lower debt = better rank); #2 in Plains of 7 (1 = lowest median debt).

On published in-state tuition, Iowa ranks #37 nationally (1 = lowest median sticker among states with data).

Earnings, employment & retention

Among bachelor's-predominant campuses with ≥200 students, median 10-year earnings in Iowa are $55,286, about +1.8% vs the U.S. campus median ($54,323).

The median campus reports 94.0% of its 8-year cohort as working and not enrolled—our closest federal proxy to a placement rate. The U.S. campus median is 87.9% (+6.0 pp). Formal job-placement statistics are not published in Scorecard; treat this as a comparative outcome indicator, not a hire guarantee.

First-year, full-time retention at the median campus is 75.8% vs a U.S. median of 76.3%—a leading indicator for completion and time-to-degree.

Loan repayment indicators at the median campus: 2-yr default 3.7% (U.S. 5.0%); 3-yr repayment progress 82.3% (U.S. 73.7%). 3-yr default is omitted when most campuses report suppressed zeros.

Nationally, Iowa ranks earnings #19 and employment proxy #3 on these outcome medians (1 = best).

Top employment-outcome campuses in this extract include Wartburg College (96.5%), Loras College (95.9%), Luther College (95.9%), Central College (95.9%), Simpson College (95.7%), Morningside University (95.5%), University of Northern Iowa (95.2%), Drake University (95.2%), Clarke University (95.1%), Coe College (95.0%)—useful anchors for local reporting on where graduates are most often working rather than still enrolled.

Completion & workforce context

Within Iowa, sector medians diverge: Private nonprofit median 10-yr earnings $54,936 (26 campuses); Public median 10-yr earnings $63,386 (3 campuses). Public campuses often dominate enrollment while private nonprofits can show higher earnings medians at selective institutions.

Average institution-level completion rate across all sectors in Iowa is 63.1% (national institution average about 50.3%).

National Student Clearinghouse data cite roughly 379,982 residents with some college but no credential in Iowa (YoY change 1.80%). That stock of incomplete credentials sits alongside the completion and employment metrics above.