Iowa is located in the midwest and has the designation of being one of the safest locations to live. It also has a vibrant agriculture community as there are working commercial farms and organic farms across the state. Along with its farmland, Iowa is a scenic state located between two rivers with rolling hillsides and lakes and is hot in the summer with snow in the winter. Though there are no professional sports teams in Iowa, that doesn’t mean residents don’t take sports seriously! They simply cheer on the state’s college sports teams.
Iowa State University (ISU)
Iowa State University is the largest university in Iowa with over 35,000 students and is located in Ames. Ames is located in the central part of the state and sits just south of the state’s capital of Des Moines. This means there’s plenty of things for students to enjoy on and off-campus. Speaking of the campus, ISU has an impressive one engulfing over 2,000 acres of land with trees and lawn space for students to enjoy.
Iowa State University also has over 100 bachelor degree programs and over 100 master’s degree programs as well. Not only does it have enough bachelor’s and master’s programs to satisfy a student body of that size, but it also has close to 100 Ph.D. level programs as well. ISU participates in Division 1 sports and is part of the Big 12 conference. To learn more visit Iowa State University’s website.
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is the oldest university in Iowa and is located in Iowa City. It also has an impressive campus spanning almost 2,000 acres for its over 33,000 students to enjoy and sits along the banks of the scenic Iowa River.
The University of Iowa is also a Division 1 school and is known as the Hawkeyes. However, unlike ISU who participates in the Big 12 conference, the University of Iowa is part of the Big Ten. For college students, Iowa City has a college town feel as it’s not only home to the University of Iowa but is also home to Kirkwood Community College. To learn more visit the University of Iowa’s website.
University of Northern Iowa
The University of Northern Iowa is located in Cedar Falls and is a smaller school with an impressive student body of over 10,000 students.
Cedar Falls has a population of almost 40,000 people and the location has many bike trails for residents and students to enjoy. When it snows in the winter, there is cross country skiing and fat-tire biking. The town also enjoys rooting on the university’s many sports teams. To learn more visit the University of Northern Iowa’s website.
Community Colleges in Iowa
Iowa also has a vast network of community colleges for students in Iowa to access.
- Des Moines Area Community College, Ankeny
- Eastern Iowa Community College District, Davenport
- Ellsworth Community College, Iowa Falls
- Hawkeye Community College, Waterloo
- Indian Hills Community College, Ottumwa
- Iowa Central Community College, Fort Dodge
- Iowa Lakes Community College, Estherville
- Iowa Western Community College, Council Bluffs
- Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids
- Marshalltown Community College, Marshalltown
- North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City
- Northeast Iowa Community College, Calmar
- Northwest Iowa Community College, Sheldon
- Southeastern Community College, West Burlington
- Southwestern Community College, Creston
- Western Iowa Tech Community College, Sioux City
