Located in the southeastern part of Iowa, Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa. The university is a 1,900-acre major research university along the banks of the Iowa River. The University of Iowa is made up of 11 colleges, including the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which has the largest student enrollment at the university. The university also has colleges devoted to business, medicine, education, engineering, law, nursing and pharmacy that are open to undergraduates. There is a graduate college of dentistry and public health as well.
The student body at Iowa is made up of approximately 30,000 students, mostly from the state of Iowa and surrounding states. The student population also includes those from 104 foreign countries. The campus is made up of 120 buildings and is staffed by a staff of 13,000.
Iowa State University is home to more than 28,000 students. The campus in Ames, Iowa -- just a half hour drive from Des Moines -- welcomes students from 110 countries and all 50 states. According to the university website, US News & World Report ranked Iowa State among the top quarter of all public universities in America.
Iowa State University is well known for its research and scientific advances. It is a world-leading university in agriculture, technology, science and art. The largest collection of public art is permanently on display at ISU, and the university was the site of many new patents and inventions, including Maytag blue cheese, the first binary computer and the round hay baler.
The University of Northern Iowa is a medium-sized college in Cedar Falls. This campus is much smaller than the two big universities in the state and the student population is much less at 13,000. But UNI considers their size a big advantage. The campus is large enough to provide the full college experience, while remaining small enough so that students and faculty get to know one another better.
Students attending UNI can major in a variety of subject areas including art and music, language, literature and writing, political science, science, mathematics, education, and communications.
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines. The campus offers some of the benefits of attending one of the large state universities with the personal attention and quality of a private education. Drake prides itself on its faculty's ability to nurture one-on-one relationships with students to help them reach their academic goals.
Students at Drake have the option to choose from more than 70 majors, combine majors or create their own major to suit their needs. The 14-to-1 student to faculty ratio is an important advantage that Drake has over the state universities.