Quad

Key differences on Outcomes

  1. 1

    Iowa State grads earn $8.6K more ten years out than U. Cincinnati's ($63,386 vs. $54,810)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  2. 2

    Iowa State graduates 2 pts more of its students than U. Cincinnati (74% vs. 73%)

    Graduation rate

Outcomes

Outcomes

Earnings and finishing

Median earnings, 10 yrs
Iowa State$63.4K
U. Cincinnati$54.8K
Graduation rate
Iowa State74%
U. Cincinnati73%
Retention rate
Iowa State89%
U. Cincinnati86%

Borrowing

Median debt
Iowa State$22.9K
U. Cincinnati$21.3K
Undergrads with a federal loan
Iowa State43%
U. Cincinnati37%
Median debt, Pell Grant recipients
Iowa State$19.6K
U. Cincinnati$13K

Eight-year outcomes

Credential within 4 years, all students
Iowa State55%
U. Cincinnati43%
Credential within 8 years, all students
Iowa State74%
U. Cincinnati74%
Enrolled at another college, 8 years on
Iowa State17%
U. Cincinnati15%

Graduation by group

Graduated in 6 years, Pell Grant recipients
Iowa State70%
U. Cincinnati66%
Graduated in 6 years, neither Pell nor subsidized loan
Iowa State80%
U. Cincinnati80%
Pell graduation gap
Iowa State11 pts lower
U. Cincinnati14 pts lower

Graduated in 6 years, by race and ethnicity

GroupIowa StateU. Cincinnati
White77%75%
Asian73%84%
Hispanic/Latino67%67%
Black61%63%
Two or more races66%73%
International71%81%

On-time progress, from the colleges' Common Data Sets

Finished withinIowa StateU. Cincinnati
4 years: Pell recipients49%Not published
4 years: neither Pell nor subsidized loan61%Not published
4 years: all first-time full-time57%Not published
5 years: Pell recipients67%Not published
5 years: neither Pell nor subsidized loan79%Not published
5 years: all first-time full-time75%Not published

All outcome numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;Iowa State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;Iowa State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2019;University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why