Top colleges in Iowa by 10-year ROI
Executive Summary
Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in Iowa with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. Grinnell College leads this list at $238,820 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
Grinnell College
10 Yr. ROI
$238,820
Iowa State University
10 Yr. ROI
$224,238
Drake University
10 Yr. ROI
$209,314
Top 25 Top colleges in Iowa by 10-year ROI
| Rank | Institution | State | Control | Enrollment | 10 Yr. ROI | Also see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grinnell College | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,729 | $238,820 | Grad 86.5% · Net $15,203 |
| 2 | Iowa State University | IA | Public | 25,367 | $224,238 | Grad 76.7% · Net $18,517 |
| 3 | Drake University | IA | Private nonprofit | 2,543 | $209,314 | Grad 70.7% · Net $29,415 |
| 4 | University of Iowa | IA | Public | 22,264 | $205,390 | Grad 75.8% · Net $22,508 |
| 5 | Saint Ambrose University | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,916 | $190,472 | Grad 69.6% · Net $23,689 |
| 6 | University of Northern Iowa | IA | Public | 7,529 | $187,188 | Grad 68.6% · Net $16,038 |
| 7 | Mercy College of Health Sciences | IA | Private nonprofit | 867 | $186,940 | Grad 55.3% · Net $25,670 |
| 8 | Coe College | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,164 | $184,386 | Grad 59.6% · Net $18,647 |
| 9 | Simpson College | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,227 | $178,780 | Grad 63.4% · Net $20,460 |
| 10 | Waldorf University | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,827 | $176,198 | Grad 43.4% · Net $24,003 |
| 11 | Mount Mercy University | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,107 | $174,227 | Grad 51.8% · Net $23,935 |
| 12 | Grand View University | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,486 | $171,154 | Grad 49.4% · Net $21,705 |
| 13 | Upper Iowa University | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,994 | $171,044 | Grad 30.9% · Net $21,119 |
| 14 | Loras College | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,083 | $169,986 | Grad 63.7% · Net $22,910 |
| 15 | Wartburg College | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,452 | $167,288 | Grad 68.3% · Net $23,374 |
| 16 | Luther College | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,379 | $165,008 | Grad 64.9% · Net $23,945 |
| 17 | Central College | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,070 | $159,282 | Grad 59.1% · Net $22,894 |
| 18 | Morningside University | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,163 | $158,031 | Grad 52.3% · Net $23,505 |
| 19 | Graceland University-Lamoni | IA | Private nonprofit | 798 | $155,834 | Grad 44.0% · Net $19,899 |
| 20 | Dordt University | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,597 | $153,740 | Grad 72.5% · Net $25,944 |
| 21 | Buena Vista University | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,366 | $151,788 | Grad 57.8% · Net $18,855 |
| 22 | Clarke University | IA | Private nonprofit | 742 | $150,724 | Grad 52.2% · Net $26,095 |
| 23 | University of Dubuque | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,440 | $146,438 | Grad 44.8% · Net $25,171 |
| 24 | Northwestern College | IA | Private nonprofit | 1,175 | $144,596 | Grad 65.9% · Net $24,716 |
| 25 | Briar Cliff University | IA | Private nonprofit | 624 | $143,369 | Grad 45.6% · Net $27,472 |
Method notes
- Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
- Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted highest first on 10 Yr. ROI; 29 campuses met every filter and the top 25 are published.
- Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
- ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
- How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
- School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.