Best Online Colleges in Iowa of 2025

University Headquarters (HQ) is an industry-leading, independent educational organization that provides independent college rankings using a proprietary formula to create first class, unbiased rankings. The team at University HQ strives to provide accurate and trustworthy rankings that highlight the best programs in Iowa.

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Iowa is a small state and therefore it has a smaller workforce than other states. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.7 million Iowans were part of the workforce in a recent year. This equates to 63% of state residents and Iowa has an unemployment rate of 3.7%. Like other states, Iowa has industries that are increasing in employment, while other industries are losing workers. The industries on the rise include hospitality, government jobs and the service industry in general. Industries that are on the decline are financial services, business services, and education and health services. The median income in Iowa in 2020 was $60,500, which is higher than the national average.

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Online Higher Education in Iowa

How much is college tuition in Iowa?
For the 2020-2021 academic year, tuition for in-state Iowa students was $6,176, while out-of-state students were charged $22,339 for tuition. Graduate students paid $11,028 for in-state tuition, and out-of-state graduate students paid $14,069. For students who opted to live on campus, the cost for room and board for all students was $11,955. The college with the highest undergraduate tuition is Grinnell College, recent costing students around $58,600, and the least expensive college tuition was at Shiloh University with a cost of $5,250. For graduate school, Maharishi University of Management has the highest tuition at $16,530 and Shiloh University has the lowest at $5,250.

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How many students are enrolled at colleges and universities in Iowa?
As of the 2020-21 academic school year, there were 209,492 Iowa students attending colleges. The vast majority (181,465) are undergraduate students, with the remaining 28,027 students being enrolled in graduate programs. Full-time students make up the majority of student attendance at 132,924 and female students outnumber male students at 115,394 and 94,098, respectively.
How many students attend online classes?
For the 2020-21 academic year, 50,386 students attended classes exclusively online and another 80,379 attended both on-campus and online courses in a hybrid format.
What are some of the most popular degrees to get online?
Some of the more popular programs include Accounting, Business, Communications, Criminal Justice, Education, and Information Technology.

Our School Rankings Methodology

We use a particular set of criteria when creating our rankings. Some of the factors we consider include:

Admission Rate:
This rate shows how competitive a school actually is. High admission rates mean it’s easier to be accepted, while a lower rate means the school is more selective of its students.
Graduation Rate:
We check the length of time students need to complete programs and whether that timeframe is within the standard four to six years for an undergraduate degree.
Net Price:
This is the total amount a student will have to pay out of pocket for their education. This amount is the balance of tuition and fees after grants, scholarships, and work study credits have been applied.
Online Availability:
Whether courses and programs can be completed online either partially or completely is considered.
Retention Rate:
We evaluate how many students return after their first year of classes.
Student-to-Faculty Ratio:
The smaller the ratio, the smaller the classes, and the greater chance for instructor interaction. Some students prefer smaller classes, while other students prefer larger ones, and a higher student-to-faculty ratio tells you which you’re likely to find at any particular institution.