Iowa Are Winners Year-Round

March Madness 2021

Grab your munchies, Hawkeyes fans because it’s March Madness time! On March 20, 2021, University of Iowa will battle Grand Canyon University during the First Round of the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

While the fate of Iowa on the court is yet to be decided, the school is winning big-time in other ways - especially when it comes to student outcomes.

Ranking the Basketball Program at Iowa

In its sports rankings, College Factual also takes into account how students perform academically to help identify those colleges and universities with strong student outcomes as well as great basketball programs. Less than 1% of college athletes go on to play pro, so it is important to know that students are being well-prepared to enter other successful careers if they don’t go the pro route.

College Factual’s 2021 Division I Men’s Basketball ranking places Iowa at #74 on the list.

Grand Canyon University, on the other hand, landed the #274 spot in the ranking. We’ll mark this category as a win for the Hawkeyes. Here are some of the other areas where the Hawkeyes beat the Antelopes.

Learn more about sports at Iowa.

Iowa Students Make More Money

Your early-career salary depends on many things, such as from what school you graduate. Once they get their degree, students from Iowa take jobs where the average salary is $39,491. As a comparison, graduates of Grand Canyon University make, on average, $36,325 during the early years of their career.

You will probably appreciate that 8.0% difference when you’re looking for a place to live and when you have to start paying back your student loans.

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Iowa Is the Winner When It Comes to Quality

To help students identify those schools that offer the best quality educational experiences, College Factual puts out its Best Colleges Ranking on a yearly basis. This ranking focuses on undergraduate programs and is determined by using factors such as graduation rate of the school, post-graduation earnings of students, and the amount that a school dedicates for its educational resources.

Get more details on our Best Colleges Ranking methodology.

Iowa competed with 1,715 schools nationwide to take home the #190 place in our 2021 Best Colleges Ranking. This means the school is in the top 15% of all schools in the nation when it comes to overall quality. For comparison’s sake, Grand Canyon University ranked #1,432 in the Best Colleges report.

Iowa Is a Hit with Non-Traditional Students

Returning adults and other non-traditional students typically have other factors in their lives that deserve special consideration. That is why College Factual’s Ranking for Non-Traditional Students includes things such as financial factors, acceptance of life credits, and the availability of online, evening, and weekend classes in addition to overall quality of the school.

Find out more about our Best Colleges for Non-Traditional Students Ranking methodology.

Out of the 2,186 colleges and universities analyzed in College Factual’s 2021 Best Colleges for Non-Traditional Students Ranking University of Iowa landed the #86 place on the list. This places it squarely in the top 5% of schools that were ranked in this category. By comparison, Grand Canyon University ranked #511 on the list.

Iowa Is More Vet-Friendly

Veterans are a specific type of non-traditional student who look for several additional things when making their college decision. This, in part, is the reason why we created our Best Colleges for Vets Ranking, which takes things such as the availability of veteran resources and support centers at the school, veteran affordability, and the presence of other veterans on campus into account. Of course, overall quality is also a factor in these rankings.

Read more about College Factual’s Best Colleges for Veterans Ranking methodology.

University of Iowa came in at #46 on College Factual’s 2021 Best Schools for Veterans Ranking, which examined 2,104 colleges and universities from across the nation. This means the school is in the top 5% of the U.S. when it comes to veteran-friendliness. How did the competition do? Well, Grand Canyon University ranked #270 on the list.

University of Iowa Fast Facts

• The student-to-faculty ratio at Iowa is 16 to 1 as compared to the ratio of Grand Canyon University, which is 19 to 1. Generally, a lower student-to-faculty ratio means smaller classes, especially for upper-level courses.

• The total number of undergraduates at Iowa is 23,482 while Grand Canyon University has 58,997 undergraduates.

• The full-time teacher percent at Iowa is 84%, and it is 8% at Grand Canyon University.

• The freshman retention rate at Iowa is 86%, while it is only 66% at Grand Canyon University. This means fewer freshmen transfer or drop out from Iowa.

If you want to continue comparing Iowa and Grand Canyon University head-to-head on the factors that matter the most to you, check out College Factual’s free tool, College Combat.

If you’d like us to send you a copy of the article, email us at [email protected].

Notes and References

• Read more about College Factual’s sports ranking methodology.
• National Center for Education Statistics
• College Scorecard
• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

More about our data sources and methodologies.