DES MOINES, Iowa — All three Iowa public universities have stabilized their enrollments after years of losing students. For Fall classes:
University of Iowa: The freshman class, of 5,064 students, is the fourth largest in history.
Iowa State University: An enrollment of 30,177 is up 208.
University of Northern Iowa: Enrollment of 9,021 students is the largest year-to-year increase in more than a decade.
The data aren’t all oranges-to-oranges parallel, but the signs are positive, said Northern Iowa spokesperson Pete Morris. Even so, overall enrollment overall remans the lowest since the 1970s. It’s a mirror a nationwide decline. Morris noted that fewer Midwest high school students are pursing any post-secondary education.