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Admissions & selectivity

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# University of Northern Iowa Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Updated October 1, 2026

[Overview](/school/university-of-northern-iowa/)[Cost & aid](/school/university-of-northern-iowa/cost/)[Outcomes](/school/university-of-northern-iowa/outcomes/)Admissions[Majors](/school/university-of-northern-iowa/majors/)[Similar schools](/school/university-of-northern-iowa/similar/)

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## What is the acceptance rate at University of Northern Iowa?

University of Northern Iowa’s reported acceptance rate is 92.7%.

**Acceptance rate · Fall 2024**
92.7%

Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.

How to interpret the acceptance rate

The University of Northern Iowa admits 92.7% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

## What SAT and ACT scores do University of Northern Iowa students report?

Among enrolled students who submitted SAT scores, the middle half scored between 1,020 and 1,280. For those who submitted ACT scores, the middle half ranged from 19 to 26.

These ranges describe the scores of students who chose to include them with their applications, not minimum thresholds the university requires for admission. Applicants can compare their own scores to the SAT and ACT ranges above to see where they would fall among recent enrolled students who submitted tests.

The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at University of Northern Iowa. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range

**Approximate lower endpoint**
1020

**Approximate upper endpoint**
1280

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

ACT: enrolled-student score range

**25th percentile**
19

**75th percentile**
26

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Figures cover fall 2024.

## Who enrolls at University of Northern Iowa?

**Pell Grant recipients**
27.4%

**Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group**
33.4%

**First-year retention**
81.7%

Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.

About these student measures

The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.

University of Northern Iowa is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, enrolling 7,529 undergraduates. 27.4% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 33.4% arrive as transfers or part-time students.

That composition means the campus draws from students who use federal grant aid and from people continuing coursework begun elsewhere, rather than from a single pipeline. Pell-eligible and transfer applicants should review the cost calculator to estimate their own grant-adjusted price and check the transfer information alongside their intended field.

First-year retention at University of Northern Iowa is 81.7%, above the peer median of 73.7% for comparable institutions. The [six-year graduation rate](/analysis/what-the-graduation-rate-doesnt-count/) is 67.9%, also above its peer median of 49.1%.

Pell recipients in the same entering cohort complete at 61.6%, 6.3 percentage points below the overall six-year rate. Persistence and completion both exceed what is typical for institutions of this size and control, though Pell recipients finish at a lower rate.

Enrolled students can expect graduation outcomes that are stronger than the peer baseline, with the gap for Pell students a factor to weigh individually.

## Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: [methodology](/methodology/).

Analysis and methodology by [Daniel Rogers](/about/#founder), founder of College Azimuth.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. [About College Azimuth](/about/).