The University of Iowa and Iowa State dropped in the rankings on the 2025 U.S. News Best College list, but one university remained in the top 100.
While the Wall Street Journal favored Iowa State University as the best public college in the state of Iowa, U.S. News has a different take placing the University of Iowa 23 spots higher.
U.S. News divides its ranking into four categories: national universities, national liberal arts colleges, regional universities and regional colleges. The regional colleges and universities were ranked by region and not compared nationally, the publication said .
Three schools in Iowa made the top 200 for national universities and six made the top 200 for national liberal arts colleges. Grinnell College earned the highest rank of any school on a national list, coming in at No. 19 for national liberal arts colleges.
Which Iowa university ranked the best, according to U.S. News?
The University of Iowa had the best overall rank out of the six Iowa schools included on U.S. News’ 2025 Best College list for national universities at No. 98. But, its ranking did drop from last year, when it ranked No. 93 on the 2024 list .