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Drake University Complete Information Guide

79 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
64% Acceptance Rate

If you want to know more about Drake University, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource.

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* Rankings

How Well Is Drake University Ranked?

#118 Best Colleges in Nation
#1 Best Colleges in IA
Drake University ranking badge

2026 Rankings

College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.

Drake University was awarded 79 badges in the 2026 rankings.

Overall Ranking

According to College Factual’s 2026 analysis, Drake is ranked #118 out of 3,449 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.

Within the state, Drake holds the #1 spot on the Best Colleges in Iowa ranking.

See all of the rankings for Drake University.

How Difficult Is Admission to Drake University?

64% Acceptance Rate
69% Of Accepted Are Women
5% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

Drake University has an acceptance rate of 64%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for Drake.

Standardized Test Scores

About 5% of students accepted to Drake submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 580 and 680. Math scores were between 530 and 670.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Drake University  ( 580 to 680 )
200
800
SAT Math Scores for Drake University  ( 530 to 670 )
200
800

Drake received ACT scores from 18% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 24 and 29.

ACT Composite Scores for Drake University  ( 24 to 29 )
1
36

Learn more about Drake University admissions.

Instructors at Drake University

11 to 1 Student to Faculty
68% Full Time Teachers

Faculty Accessibility

At Drake, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 11 to 1. That’s much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunities to work closely with their professors and classmates.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Drake University is 68%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  68 out of 100
0
100

Student Success Metrics for Drake University

84% Freshmen Retention
77% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The freshmen retention rate of 84% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Drake University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  84 out of 100
0
100

Time to Degree

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Drake for first-time, full-time students is 77%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  77 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Drake University.

Undergraduate Diversity at Drake University

2,669 Undergraduate Students
27.5% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
59.8% Percent Women

In the current academic year, there are 2,669 undergraduates at Drake.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Drake University.

What Does Drake University Cost?

$16,772 Net Price
44% Take Out Loans
$26,312 Total Student Loans

The typical net cost at Drake is $16,772. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.### Net Price by Income Group for Drake

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$27,372 $25,335 $26,358 $32,215 $32,993

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Drake, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Drake, approximately 44% of students took out student loans averaging $6,578 a year. That adds up to $26,312 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Drake University.

What Do Drake University Alumni Earn?

$71,901 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost

Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Drake University with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $71,901 in their early years. This is good news for future Drake University graduates since it is 46% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.

See which majors at Drake University make the most money.

Location of Drake University

Iowa State
2,669 Undergraduate Students
Midsize City Campus Setting

Drake University is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Des Moines, Iowa. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of Drake University.

Location of Drake University

Contact information for Drake University are listed below.

Contact Details
Address: 2507 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50311-4505
Phone: 5152712011
Website: www.drake.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DrakeUniversity
Twitter: twitter.com/drakeuniversity

Drake University Academic Programs

22 Majors With Completions
2,994 Undergraduate Degrees

In the latest year of available data, students from 22 majors graduated from Drake University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies 1,497 NA
Educational Administration 137 $59,587
Business Administration & Management 107 NA
Law 99 $61,460
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 79 NA
Teacher Education Grade Specific 73 $43,703
Data Analytics. 63 NA
Rehabilitation Professions 57 NA
Computer Information Systems 56 $62,903
Marketing 46 $45,816

Learn more about the majors offered at Drake University along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Study Options at Drake

22% Take At Least One Class Online
0% Take All Classes Online

Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.

600 students took at least one online class at Drake University.

Learn more about online learning at Drake University.

Comparable CollegesWant to see how other colleges compare to Drake? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

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