Iowa Score Card

Iowa, the 30th most populous state, has fairly high educational attainment. Its 5 percent high school dropout rate (two points lower than the national average) manifests in low levels of adults with less than a high school education. It ranks sixth in percentage of adults with a high school diploma and seventh in adults with an associate degree. The state is expected to have a 6 percent decrease in high school graduates from 2007–08 to 2017–18. Only 11 percent of Iowa's college students are minorities, and 63.9 percent of Iowa's freshmen enrolling at four-year institutions graduate in six years or less, beating the national mark of 55.9 percent.

Iowa's higher education accountability system's strengths are:

• Comparing data across time and/or against peers.

Iowa's higher education accountability system needs work in:

• Formally linking budgetary decisions to the performance of state postsecondary institutions.
• Proactively informing prospective students, parents, and the general public about the performance of state colleges and universities.