Welcome to Iowa This Week.
I'm Tim Harwood.
The University of Northern Iowa has been highlighting lots of favorable news this fall from a best-ever ranking by U.S.
News and World Report to wrapping up a year-long 150th anniversary commemoration.
UNI has seemingly been on a winning streak and during today's program we talk with UNI spokesman Pete Morris.
Pete, thanks for being back with us.
Yeah, you bet.
Tim, it's always great to talk about the wonderful things we've got going on here at the University of Northern Iowa.
Well, remind us about the details of last month's US News and World Report rankings as a starting point.
Yeah, absolutely.
We were pretty excited to move into the top spot as the number one regional public in the Midwest is ranked by US News and World Report and really that's a reflection of a lot of things but you know two of the factors that really weigh in our affordability You know the value that folks are getting here, but also our graduation rates, you know one in eight UNI students now graduates in three years and our our average graduate
is about 25% higher than our national peers.
So we're really excited about the value, but also the fact that students are getting out into the workforce even more quickly than before.
So number one, regional public university in the Midwest.
So the peers that we're talking about for that are I assume schools like Illinois State and Nebraska Omaha and those types of universities rather than University of Iowa or University of Minnesota, those bigger schools.
Yeah, you'll also get some of the, you know, the Minnesota schools in there, folks like the Wisconsin schools, Wisconsin lacrosse, that sort of thing, Mankato.
So, yeah, it's really a good measure of institutions that are very much like us in the Midwest.
So what other factors are significant when you look at those rankings and as you make the appeal to students whether they're local or whether they're a little more further afield that UNI offers good value that UNI provides the type of educational experience that they're looking for.
Yeah, one of the things that we just had family weekend here recently and we had a lot of families from the neighboring states were who are taking advantage of that neighboring state rate, which means they can pay that same, you know, around $10,000 in tuition and fees is Iowa residents.
And so I think that's one of the things that in conversations with those families was the price point was where they started.
But then they really found that we had the academic programs that their students wanted.
And so.
whether it's nursing in the health fields, elementary education, business accounting, engineering, construction management, the list goes on, but those are the programs that are not only in demand that we're hearing from the Iowa workforce.
Business leaders that are programs that they want graduates in, they're also the programs that students want to pursue.
We're talking with the University of Northern Iowa spokesman Pete Morris about a sequence of good news for the University of Northern Iowa, highlighted by last month's rankings from US News and World Report, which put UNI at the top when it comes to regional Midwest public universities.
And I know graduation rates are a big deal when it comes to both the
Value proposition that the university makes to students and families and in terms of these rankings as well and it seems like students are graduating on schedule or maybe even a little bit ahead of the traditional schedule.
Yeah, what we found is about one in eight of our students now graduating three years, and that's a combination of factors.
They're obviously bringing in some credit with them that they accrued during high school.
But what it's also allowing students to do is, hey, do I want to?
pick up another minor or do I want to take another major?
So we're finding a lot of students, you know, are not graduating with maybe one or two majors.
We've got some high achievers who got three minors.
So, you know, they're getting a lot of very useful credentials and experience during their time here.
And the other piece that I think is important in those U.S.
news rankings is the fact that our perception among the public and peers
into that as well and so UNI's reputation not only here in the state of Iowa but across the Midwest is very solid and I think employers know that if you're going to hire a UNI accounting major they know what they're going to get and so that's what we hear across a number of disciplines is it's a known commodity that when you get a UNI alum that they're going to bring skills and experience to the table to make them really being able to contribute to
the workplace immediately.
Let me come back to that three-year track, which I know the university has worked on for a while, and you made reference to the advanced placement credits that a lot of college-bound students are able to earn now in advance.
Has that changed anything on campus or with advisors or just the whole campus experience, knowing that there are at least a fair portion of students?
You said one in eight that are going to maybe not be there as long as what would have been expected.
generations ago.
Yeah, there's there's a couple pieces to that.
Number one, if you decide to come here and you're able to finish in three years.
Obviously, that's a significant decrease in the cost to the student.
But what we're also finding is that students want to accumulate additional, whether it's credentials or an additional degree that's complementary to what they originally planned to study.
So the other factor is that we've got a lot of students who want to live on campus.
We're very close to capacity in terms of our residence halls and just the demand of students who
who wanna live on campus, who wanna be part of college activities, who enjoy our great food and our dining halls.
And so what the data will show you is the longer that a student lives on campus, they have better outcomes, whether it's graduation rates or career placement.
So yeah, that's a good problem to have is we've got a lot of students who wanna be here, wanna be engaged on campus.
And of course our folks in housing and dining,
an excellent job of making them feel very welcome here at their college home in Cedar Falls.
Talking with Pete Morris, spokesman for the University of Northern Iowa about a number of news stories that have come out over the last several months that have been good news for UNI trending positively, whether that's the US News and World Report rankings, or news about enrollment, which has been up.
There was a sequence of academic years where that enrollment number was declining, but it seems to have turned a corner.
Yeah, absolutely.
And that's exactly how we feel.
We've got in this fall census over 9300 students, which is our biggest total since 2020.
But really the biggest piece of encouraging news there is we've got our largest freshman class since 2017.
So that that influx of students is.
traditionally Iowa students, and that's typically our bread and butter.
We've got students from all 99 of Iowa's counties, which we're pretty proud of.
But yeah, we had around 300 neighboring state rate students as well.
So those six states that border Iowa, those folks can get the same tuition and fees as Iowa residents.
And so that's brought a new dynamic to campus with a lot of folks from Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the other bordering states here on campus as well.
If I've got the numbers right, that seems like about 20% of that incoming freshman class for the fall of 26.
Is that about right?
Yeah, so that's 300 total students from neighboring states.
So that's new freshmen as well as transfers.
And I know that that neighboring states news came out last year.
It's sort of a longer term plan because it was offered to the freshman incoming from the neighboring states, and we'll probably have some other impacts as the years go by.
Are there some other things that you attribute that growth to, some other factors that seem to suggest that trend, and how does it compare with broader?
Higher educational trends because over the years we've heard that the numbers have been declining for a lot of colleges and universities.
Yeah, it's it's an ongoing Conversation in terms of not only how do you do this?
You know one or two years, but how do you sustain that sort of growth?
Over an extended period and I think we've really bucked the trend in higher ed Particularly for mid and smaller sized institutions You know if you look across the state and across the region Those numbers have been going down just because of you know, there's there's declining numbers of high school
graduates in large spaces across the Midwest but you know I think those academic programs you know I talked to a student yesterday from Wisconsin and she's like well my sister came here and had a great experience and I'm having a good time here now and I'm in the program that I want to be in so I think
That's our best recruiting tool is when students come here and they have a really good experience both in the classroom and on campus and form relationships that are really meaningful.
That's what I say to students when I'm talking periodically in classrooms is you're our best recruiters.
So we've got a very vested interest in making sure you succeed not only academically, but in your personal goals and in your life goals.
And so I think that's what we're seeing.
as students who are really and families who have had a good experience here who are spreading that word and helping a new generation of families experience UNI.
Talking with University of Northern Iowa spokesman Pete Morris and I alluded to the 150th anniversary that UNI has been celebrating for almost a full year now dating back to homecoming last year.
What sort of momentum has that provided?
Are students interested in the fact that UNI has that sort of longevity?
Absolutely, and I think that's one of the fun things that we've experienced over the last year with the sesquicentennial celebration is it's not just been alums.
It's not just been staff, but the students have been very engaged.
We just celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Campanile and we've got a great group of students who who are able to play that.
The Carolina and the Campanile we've got homecoming coming up and talk to some students yesterday who were very.
interested in all the various traditions around homecoming and so yeah homecoming the parade is on October 10th 11 a.m.
on Main Street and Cedar Falls and that'll really kind of be the culmination of our year-long sesquicentennial celebration and it's been great to celebrate not only the 100th anniversary of the Campanile but it's the 50th anniversary of the Unidome and we've had folks reach out to us about hey
That's one of Iowa's iconic spaces.
And so we'll have a film crew here in October coming up from Iowa Public Television to do a segment on the unidome and its history and its place in Iowa and the Cedar Valley is really an iconic building with a really interesting history.
So Pete, let me wrap up with you and I on this winning streak of good news.
And again, we're not talking necessarily about athletics, but obviously some good athletics news that's been coming you and I's way as well.
On top of all this, how do you keep it going?
What's on the horizon for you and I that you and the leadership on campus are excited about?
Yeah, absolutely and of course we had the football team knockoff number three Illinois State and they'll be back for homecoming against North Dakota So that's the great thing about playing in Missouri Valley football conference You're gonna see a ranked opponent just about every week But that's one of the things that you know president nook and other campus leaders have talked about is how do we sustain this momentum?
Going forward now that we've you know, we've had this very wonderful our tomorrow
campaign that's just exceeded expectations from a fundraising standpoint.
So again, I think now getting new families engaged from different markets.
Again, at family weekend, we had folks here from Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas City, Madison, Milwaukee.
And so we're getting new folks that are going back home and saying, wow, my students having a great time at UNI and maybe you should check it out.
So I think just expand.
standing that footprint a little bit beyond our traditional bread and butter, which is Iowa's 99 counties and welcoming new folks to the Cedar Valley who hopefully come and stay overnight and enjoy all of our great activities here and the restaurants and shopping and all that goes with it.
So I think getting folks to come and visit and stay for a couple of days is a great thing, not only for you and I, but the entire Cedar Valley.
Pete Morris, spokesman for the University of Northern Iowa.
Last month, UNI ranked number one by U.S.
News and World Report for Regional Midwestern Public Universities.
The latest news that's been news that the campus community has had cause to celebrate.
And Pete, thanks for being with us to share some of the details about all that.
Yeah, you bet, Tim.
And again, look forward to hopefully seeing a lot of folks at homecoming during that weekend of October 10th.
And homecoming at the University of Northern Iowa is coming up quickly.
But that's all for this edition of Iowa This Week.
Thank you for listening.
I'm Tim Harwood.