Iowa State University
Public Research University in Ames, IA. Six-year graduation rate 75%. Median 10-year earnings $63,386.
Students who entered Iowa State University reach a median of $63,386 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. Completion is a strength: 75% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $22,869, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 75% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 89%, Iowa State University takes nearly everyone who applies. 23,095 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield sits at 29% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. 13% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 560–670 | 791 (13%) |
| SAT Math | 560–690 | |
| ACT Composite | 21–28 | 2,698 (46%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Iowa State University →Academics
75% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 88% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 19% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 18:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 25,033 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $17,779 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $10,582 while those at $110k+ pay $22,496. About 74% get grants averaging $10,272, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 44% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 5,794 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $10,582 |
| $30–48k | $11,506 |
| $48–75k | $15,463 |
| $75–110k | $19,605 |
| $110k+ | $22,496 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 10,975 of these 25,033 students, totalling $65,258,096 — an average of $5,946 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Story County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)