Class of 2021 infographic (click to enlarge)

The University of Iowa Class of 2021 has topped previous records in achievement with a higher average GPA, at 3.69, than any previous class.

“We are excited to welcome another talented class to the University of Iowa,” says Sue Curry, interim UI executive vice president and provost. “We are eager for our new students to study in our laboratories, classrooms, and communities where our outstanding faculty are working at the forefront of discovery, scholarship, and innovation. We are confident that our students will find the means and opportunity to thrive.”

The Class of 2021 is composed of 5,029* students, making it the third-largest class in UI history. This comes after two years of record numbers of incoming students and efforts by university administration to manage enrollment growth.

Nearly 23 percent of the class (1,145) are first-generation students.

“As a first-generation college student myself, I am so proud to welcome the one-fifth of our class who are the first to attend a university,” says Melissa Shivers, vice president for student life. “The University of Iowa is dedicated to student success, and programs like Iowa Edge demonstrate one way the UI works to provide students with the resources and support they need. I look forward to partnering with our campus community to make this university’s promise to first-generation students a reality.”

Nearly 58 percent of the class, or 2,907, are Iowa residents and about 3* percent (167*) are international students. The class represents 96 of Iowa’s 99 counties, 40 U.S. states (as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and bases for the U.S. Armed Forces), and 21 countries (including the U.S.).

About 18.5 percent (930) identify as African American, American Indian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Asian, Latino(a), or two or more ethnicities.

This year, 24,503* undergraduates are enrolled at the UI. Total enrollment this fall is 33,564* students. About 48 percent of the UI’s students identify as male, about 52 percent as female. Graduate students total 5,816, and professional students total 1,847; postgraduate scholars total 1,398.

*These data do not count students of the Iowa Intensive English Program, and any comparison between these data and those released last year should account for this difference.