AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University’s fall enrollment reflects its commitment to helping students earn their degree with a one-year retention rate of 88.3% and record two-year retention of 82.9%. Iowa State’s total enrollment of 30,772 includes a first-year class of 5,872 students. 

“Iowa State offers programs that prepare students for high-demand careers,” said Iowa State University President David Cook. “Additionally, we provide holistic support to ensure students achieve their goal of graduating with an Iowa State degree. A strong one-year retention rate and record two-year retention demonstrates those efforts are working.”

Iowa State’s Learning Communities program is among those efforts and one of the university’s most successful retention initiatives in its 30 years. Retention and graduation rates for students participating in learning communities continue to surpass those of non-learning community participants.

Cyclone Support Central also provides dedicated space for student-centered programming. For fiscal year 2025, nearly 6,500 students checked in at Cyclone Support Central, and nearly 4,000 attended programs for career readiness, financial wellness, academic skills development and stress reducing activities.

If students need help connecting to resources, faculty and staff can seamlessly refer students to services like financial aid, student wellness and the Academic Success Center using EAB Navigate. The centralized system enhances collaboration, improves efficiency and increases student satisfaction.

The university’s retention efforts also contributed to a record six-year graduation rate of 77.2%. Of those students, 6.7% graduated in three years, also a record. The six-year rate is a federal standard set by the U.S. Department of Education. 

Iowa State’s fall enrollment includes:

• 26,306 undergraduate students
• 3,817 graduate students
• 649 professional (veterinary medicine) students
• 16,404 students from Iowa 

Iowa State students come from all 99 Iowa counties, all 50 states and 110 countries.

Among undergraduate students: 

• 5,377 (20.4%) are first generation students
• 4,178 (15.9%) are transfer students
• 15,484 (58.9%) students are enrolled in STEM majors

Iowa State’s first-year students had an average ACT score of 25 and average high school GPA of 3.75. 

Agriculture and Life Sciences: 4,276

Business: 5,408

Design: 2,228

Engineering: 8,693

Health and Human Sciences: 3,253

Liberal Arts and Sciences: 5,895

Veterinary Medicine (professional and graduate): 792

Graduate College (nondegree and undeclared): 25

Visiting students: 202