Outcomes
What it pays
Former students earn a median $63,386 ten years after enrolling, more than at 74% of colleges; 74% graduate within six years. Four years of net price is about 1.5 years of that salary.
Earnings
Earnings climb with time
Staying and finishing
Retention
come back for year two
Graduation
graduate within six years
National median graduation rate: 59%
What graduates owe
$22.9K
According to Iowa State University's most recent Common Data Set, 53% of its Class of 2025 graduates (4,058 students) borrowed from any source: federal, institutional, state, or private, averaging $28,851 among those who did.
Counts students who started here as first-time students and earned a bachelor's; the federal median counts federal loans only, including students who left without a degree.
Everyone who starts here, 8 years later
Students who entered in fall 2016, including and part-time students. The graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students and treats a transfer out as not finishing.
74 of 100 students who start here earn a degree or certificate here within 8 years; 17 more are enrolled at another college. (8,691 students)
All entering students, by whether they had a Pell Grant.
55 of 100 finish within 4 years, 73 within 6, and 74 within 8.
| Earned a credential within | 4 yrs | 6 yrs | 8 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All students | 55% | 73% | 74% |
| Started in college here | 51% | 74% | 75% |
| Transferred in | 66% | 71% | 72% |
Transfer students' clock starts when they arrive here, not when they first started college.
National median: 60% of all entering students earn a credential at the college they started at within 8 years.
Do lower-income students finish?
Of 100 Pell Grant recipients who entered in fall 2019, 49 finished within 4 years and 70 within 6. First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years; entered fall 2019.
- Pell Grant recipients1,086 students
70% · 49% within 4 years · 11 points below students with neither
- Subsidized loan, no Pell Grant986 students
72% · 53% within 4 years · 9 points below students with neither
- Neither Pell nor subsidized loan3,394 students
80% · 61% within 4 years · comparison group
Within 4 years
By race and ethnicity
First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years, from the College Scorecard's most recent release. Groups under 30 students aren't shown.
- White4,659 students
77% · the same as all students
- Asian243 students
73% · 3 points below all students
- Hispanic/Latino372 students
67% · 9 points below all students
- Black140 students
61% · 16 points below all students
- Two or more races170 students
66% · 11 points below all students
- International164 students
71% · 6 points below all students
- American Indian/Alaska Native4 students
Not shown: under 30 students
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander2 students
Not shown: under 30 students
Cost vs. earnings
The 300 most-applied-to colleges plus Iowa State University. Top-left is lower cost and higher earnings.
↑ Median earnings 10 years after entry (higher = more)
Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;Iowa State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;Iowa State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2019;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;Iowa State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Class of 2025;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)