From the bustling residence halls housing 10,000 students to the cutting-edge labs where researchers secure $321 million in grants annually, Iowa State University thrives as a dynamic community of over 36,000 students who are as diverse in background—hailing from 126 countries—as they are united in the drive to discover and achieve.
Key Takeaways
- Iowa State University (ISU) total enrollment in fall 2023 was 36,660 students including 26,165 undergraduates and 10,495 graduates.
- ISU undergraduate enrollment breakdown shows 52% from Iowa, 30% from other US states, and 18% international students in 2023.
- ISU student gender distribution is 53% male and 47% female as of fall 2023.
- ISU offers 100 undergraduate majors across 10 colleges in 2023.
- ISU bachelor's degrees conferred in 2022-2023: 5,800.
- ISU master's degrees awarded in 2022-2023: 1,200.
- ISU research expenditures totaled $321 million in fiscal year 2023.
- ISU federally funded research: $200 million or 62% of total in FY2023.
- ISU top research areas: Plant Sciences ($50M), Engineering ($80M), Agriculture ($60M) in 2023.
- ISU men's basketball team won 26 games in 2022-2023 season.
- ISU women's basketball averaged 12,500 fans per home game in 2023.
- ISU football stadium capacity: 61,500 at Jack Trice Stadium.
- ISU total campus area: 1,796 acres in Ames, Iowa.
- ISU residence halls: 28 buildings housing 10,000 students.
- ISU dining centers: 5 locations serving 20,000 meals daily.
Iowa State University is a large and diverse public research institution.
Academics
- ISU offers 100 undergraduate majors across 10 colleges in 2023.
- ISU bachelor's degrees conferred in 2022-2023: 5,800.
- ISU master's degrees awarded in 2022-2023: 1,200.
- ISU doctoral degrees awarded in 2022-2023: 450.
- ISU most popular undergraduate major: Mechanical Engineering with 800 graduates in 2023.
- ISU top graduate programs ranked #30 Engineering, #52 Business by US News 2024.
- ISU freshman retention rate in academic programs: 89% in 2023.
- ISU average class size for undergraduate courses: 35 students in 2023.
- ISU online undergraduate programs offered: 20 certificates and degrees in 2023.
- ISU study abroad participation: 1,500 students annually pre-2023.
- ISU honors program enrollment: 1,200 students in 2023.
- ISU undergraduate research participants: 4,000 annually in 2023.
- ISU co-op/internship placements: 2,500 students per year in 2023.
- ISU library holdings: 2.5 million volumes, 100,000 e-journals in 2023.
- ISU academic calendar: Semester system with fall start mid-August.
- ISU credit hours attempted by undergraduates annually: over 500,000 in 2023.
- ISU pass rate on professional licensure exams in engineering: 85% in 2023.
- ISU alumni with advanced degrees: 40% hold master's or higher.
- ISU faculty publications per year: 4,000 peer-reviewed articles in 2022.
Academics Interpretation
With a serious commitment to churning out Mechanical Engineers and keeping 89% of its freshmen hooked, Iowa State University cleverly combines scale and substance, proving that a large public institution can be both a degree factory and a launchpad for real-world impact.
Athletics
- ISU men's basketball team won 26 games in 2022-2023 season.
- ISU women's basketball averaged 12,500 fans per home game in 2023.
- ISU football stadium capacity: 61,500 at Jack Trice Stadium.
- ISU wrestling team national champions: 2023 Big 12 title, NCAA runners-up.
- ISU track and field: 15 Big 12 titles since 2000.
- ISU softball team attendance record: 1,800 average in 2023.
- ISU men's golf Big 12 champions 2023.
- ISU athletic department budget: $120 million in FY2023.
- ISU student-athletes total: 600 competing in 20 varsity sports.
- ISU Academic All-Big 12 honorees: 150 in 2022-2023.
- ISU volleyball team: 22-10 record, NCAA tournament 2023.
- ISU baseball wins: 37 in 2023 season.
- ISU cross country: Men's team #1 nationally ranked 2023.
- ISU athletic facilities: 20 venues including Lied Recreation Center for 500,000 visits/year.
- ISU tailgate attendance average: 50,000 for football games.
- ISU esports program: 10 teams, 200 participants, conference champions 2023.
- ISU club sports: 50 clubs with 3,000 members.
- ISU NCAA Division I affiliation: Big 12 Conference since 2011.
Athletics Interpretation
The statistics show that Iowa State is a top-tier athletic department not just by funding and facilities, but by consistently fielding championship-caliber teams, drawing massive crowds, and, most importantly, cultivating successful scholar-athletes across a stunningly broad range of sports.
Campus Facilities
- ISU total campus area: 1,796 acres in Ames, Iowa.
- ISU residence halls: 28 buildings housing 10,000 students.
- ISU dining centers: 5 locations serving 20,000 meals daily.
- ISU parking spaces: 20,000 on campus for 2023.
- ISU Reiman Gardens: 14-acre botanical garden with 6,000 plant species.
- ISU Memorial Union: 250,000 sq ft, hosts 1 million visitors yearly.
- ISU recreational facilities: 350,000 sq ft fitness space.
- ISU farm operations: 1,800 acres for teaching/research.
- ISU transit system: CyRide buses with 5 million rides annually.
- ISU sustainability features: 50 LEED certified buildings.
- ISU dorm room types: 70% doubles, 20% singles, 10% suites/apartments.
- ISU wireless coverage: 99% of campus buildings.
- ISU art installations: 50 public sculptures on campus.
- ISU health center visits: 40,000 annually.
- ISU bookstore sales: $15 million yearly.
- ISU conference center capacity: 1,000 guests.
- ISU greenhouses: 1.5 acres for research.
- ISU observatory: 16-inch telescope for student use.
- ISU virtual reality labs: 10 across departments.
- ISU total building square footage: 13 million sq ft.
Campus Facilities Interpretation
Iowa State University has basically built a self-sufficient, slightly surreal city-state dedicated to learning, where you can live in a statistical probability, eat a metaphorical ton of food, walk past a sculpture, get lost in a million square feet, and still get a telescope to remind you to look up from it all.
Demographics
- Iowa State University (ISU) total enrollment in fall 2023 was 36,660 students including 26,165 undergraduates and 10,495 graduates.
- ISU undergraduate enrollment breakdown shows 52% from Iowa, 30% from other US states, and 18% international students in 2023.
- ISU student gender distribution is 53% male and 47% female as of fall 2023.
- ISU racial demographics: 71% White, 11% Hispanic/Latino, 5% Asian, 4% Black/African American, 3% Two or more races, 6% other/international in 2023.
- Average age of ISU full-time undergraduates is 20 years old, with 82% aged 18-21 in 2023.
- ISU has 3,800 first-year students enrolling in fall 2023, with an acceptance rate of 91%.
- ISU international student population totals 5,500 from 126 countries in 2023.
- ISU first-generation college students make up 20% of undergraduates in 2023.
- ISU Pell Grant recipients among undergraduates: 23% in 2022-2023 academic year.
- ISU student retention rate for first-year to second-year is 88% for fall 2022 cohort.
- ISU 6-year graduation rate is 76% for full-time bachelor's seeking students entering in 2017.
- ISU graduate student enrollment by college: 40% in Agriculture/Life Sciences, 25% Engineering, 15% Business, 20% others in 2023.
- ISU undergraduate students living on-campus: 65% of first-years and 30% overall in 2023.
- ISU military/veteran students: 400 undergraduates and 200 graduates in 2023.
- ISU students with disabilities registered: 1,200 or 4% of total enrollment in 2023.
- ISU adult learner enrollment (25+ years): 12% of undergraduates in fall 2023.
- ISU low-income student percentage (under $30k family income): 18% of freshmen in 2023.
- ISU high school GPA average for admitted freshmen: 3.7 unweighted in 2023.
- ISU ACT composite score 75th percentile for freshmen: 30, 25th: 22 in 2023.
- ISU SAT total score 75th percentile for freshmen: 1330, 25th: 1100 in 2023.
- ISU out-of-state tuition and fees for 2023-2024: $27,683 annually.
- ISU in-state tuition and fees for 2023-2024: $10,133 annually.
- ISU average net price after aid for low-income students: $12,500 in 2022.
- ISU student-to-faculty ratio: 18:1 in 2023.
- ISU full-time faculty: 1,798 instructional in fall 2023.
- ISU part-time faculty: 450 in fall 2023.
- ISU staff employees total: 6,200 non-faculty in 2023.
- ISU women faculty percentage: 42% of full-time instructional faculty in 2023.
- ISU minority faculty percentage: 22% of full-time faculty in 2023.
- ISU tenured/tenure-track faculty: 1,500 out of 1,798 full-time in 2023.
Demographics Interpretation
Iowa State is a proudly accessible, predominantly young and Iowan university that, while keeping one foot firmly planted in its agricultural roots, has successfully grown a surprisingly diverse and international student body that it supports with reasonable success from freshman year to graduation.
Research
- ISU research expenditures totaled $321 million in fiscal year 2023.
- ISU federally funded research: $200 million or 62% of total in FY2023.
- ISU top research areas: Plant Sciences ($50M), Engineering ($80M), Agriculture ($60M) in 2023.
- ISU patents issued to faculty/students: 25 in 2023.
- ISU invention disclosures filed: 120 in FY2023.
- ISU research centers and institutes: 60 active in 2023.
- ISU NSF-funded grants: 150 active awards totaling $100M in 2023.
- ISU USDA research funding: $40 million in FY2023.
- ISU NIH grants: $15 million for biomedical research in 2023.
- ISU startup companies from research: 10 launched in 2023.
- ISU postdoctoral researchers: 500 employed in 2023.
- ISU industry-sponsored research contracts: $50 million in FY2023.
- ISU high-performance computing users: 2,000 researchers accessing 10 petaflops in 2023.
- ISU field research stations: 12 across Iowa totaling 20,000 acres in 2023.
- ISU animal research facilities house 50,000 animals for studies in 2023.
- ISU climate research contributions: Ames site data since 1951, key for IPCC reports.
- ISU biofuels research output: 100 publications, 20 patents since 2000.
- ISU cybersecurity research center funded $10M by DHS in 2023.
- ISU materials science discoveries: 5 new alloys patented in 2023.
- ISU plant breeding program releases 10 new crop varieties annually.
- ISU Cyclone Computer: Ranked top 500 supercomputer globally in 2023.
Research Interpretation
In a year where their supercomputer ranked among the world's fastest, Iowa State University proved its real horsepower is still in the dirt, the lab, and the brilliant minds turning a $321 million research engine into new crops, alloys, and companies that fuel the future.
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