After their students’ years of study, family and friends gather to celebrate a major achievement.
Top majors, minors, and certificates

These are the most popular areas of study among the spring undergraduate degree applicants.

Top 3 majors

  • Finance
  • Health and Human Physiology
  • Psychology

Top 3 minors

  • Human Relations
  • Psychology
  • Mathematics

Top 3 certificates

  • Entrepreneurial Management
  • Event Management
  • Sustainability Programs

 

This spring, more than 5,280 University of Iowa undergraduate, graduate, and professional students will participate in ceremonies celebrating the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. What these students will carry with them won’t just be a degree but experiences that have shaped them and will shape their future.

The UI’s new graduates have earned degrees that represent more than skill sets and hours poring over books. These degrees are monuments to each graduate’s accomplishments, testaments to what they will be able to achieve in the wider world. These degrees are reminders of days spent in classrooms and lecture halls, of spring walks across campus, and of roaming around downtown Iowa City. Being a Hawkeye means growing as a person, having life-changing experiences, and making lifelong friends—and these degrees will remind our graduates of those things as well.

Whatever is in store for our graduates as they venture forth, we hope they take with them the valuable connections they have made at the University of Iowa. We hope they remember that they are always welcome here, and that they cherish the friends they made, the teachers who guided them, and the passions they discovered.

These graduates will always be Hawkeyes.

If you or a loved one is graduating this spring, find ceremony information at the UI Commencement website.

Spring graduate profiles

Jake Stone
Jake Stone will work for the Baltimore Orioles after graduation, which he says was made possible by taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the University of Iowa’s Sport and Recreation Management Program and his work with the Hawkeye baseball team.
Mikaela Mallin
Biomedical sciences and dance at first glance may seem to have little to do with each other. But Mikaela Mallin, who will graduate from the University of Iowa with degrees in both, sees plenty of connections.
Fredrick Cherry Jr.
It did not take long for Fredrick Cherry Jr. to feel at home at the University of Iowa. Once here, he flourished under the tutelage of mentors, and has helped groom the next generation of people to do the same things that he has had the opportunity to do.
Emma Keefe
Emma Keefe was offered a job in Ernst & Young’s Minneapolis office, but the Iowa native didn’t want to leave her home state. Eager to keep a talented employee, the Big Four accounting and consulting firm offered her a job in Des Moines, instead. She starts work there after graduating.
Josh Larson
Josh Larson was first drawn to the University of Iowa because of a folder filled with space goodies. The Mount Pleasant, Iowa, native graduates in May after finding a passion for plasma physics and building his own experiment for students.
Nicci Ledbetter
Nicci Ledbetter earned her Juris Doctorate and Master of Arts in Philosophy at the same time, while also raising two young children and serving in the Iowa Air Force National Guard. She heads to a central Iowa law firm with a message for her clients: no obstacle is insurmountable.
Former University of Iowa president Mary Sue Coleman posing outdoors for a portrait
Mary Sue Coleman
As the University of Iowa’s 18th president, Mary Sue Coleman created an environment of inclusiveness and high academic standards, and devoted her life to helping others experience the utter joy of education. She will receive an honorary degree from the UI on May 11.

Because the final number of graduates will not be available until just before ceremonies begin, these statistics pertain to degree applicants.

3,690
undergraduate degree applicants
1,598
graduate or professional degree applicants
16%
undergraduates with multiple majors
3.16
average undergraduate cumulative GPA
355
undergraduates graduating with honors
69
age of oldest degree applicant
17
age of the youngest degree applicant
18%
graduating students who identify as a member of a minority group
84
graduating students who identify as veterans
23%
undergraduates who identify as first-generation
86
Iowa counties represented
38
U.S. states represented
38
countries represented, including the U.S.
715
degrees in medicine and health care
1,256
degrees in business
216
degrees in education
926
degrees in the arts and humanities
2,517
degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math
148
degrees in law
What are last year's grads doing?

Of the Hawkeyes who graduated in the 2017–18 academic year…

  • 95% found a job, continued their education, or are not seeking employment
  • Their median salary is $49,920
  • 48% of those with a full-time job stayed in Iowa
  • 21% chose to continue their education

These stats come from a survey of graduates completed six to seven months after graduation. More about Hawkeye grads and student outcomes is available at the Pomerantz Career Center.

 

The influence of Hawkeyes is felt across the state of Iowa, where every county has at least one teacher or administrator trained at the UI. More than 75% of Iowa’s dentists and about 46% of Iowa’s pharmacists also are University of Iowa-trained.

Hawkeyes have gone on to be distinguished leaders in a wide range of careers. They’re working for the Minnesota Vikings, caring for injured seals in Los Angeles, and consulting for Microsoft in Chicago.

Hollywood has felt the influence of the University of Iowa for years. Recently, Scott Beck (BA ’07) and Bryan Woods (BA ’07) came to fame for their hit film, A Quiet Place, following in the footsteps of a long line of filmmakers that includes Diablo Cody (BA ’00), the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno; Joe Russo (BA ’92), the co-director of Avengers: Infinity War; D.B. Weiss (MFA ’98), a writer, producer, and director on Game of Thrones; and the iconic Gene Wilder (BA ’55).

Produced by the University of Iowa Office of Strategic Communication