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Iowa Postsecondary Institutions – By Type

These charts outline the four main types of postsecondary institutions and list the names and Web addresses for iowa colleges of that type. It contains general information to help you examine your options, but it shouldn’t be used as a substitute for the information provided by the schools you’re considering.

Liberal Arts Colleges

Universities

  • Offer undergraduate students a bachelor’s(four-year) or associate’s (two-year) degree.
  • Advanced degrees may not be offered.
  • Broad base of courses are available
    (such as social sciences, humanities, sciences and business).
  • Courses of study begin with general  education requirements; students      choose at least one area of in-depth study as their major.
  • Generally smaller than universities, with smaller classes.
  • Offer several levels of degrees
    (bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate).
  • Include a liberal arts college as well as professional colleges and graduate programs.
  • Divided into several colleges such as the College of Business or the College of Education.
  • Wide variety of academic programs.
  • In general, universities are larger than liberal arts colleges (although there are smaller universities) with larger classes.
  • Classes are often taught in a lecture format.

Business/Health Profession Institutes

Community Colleges

  • May offer an associate’s (two-year) degree  (or higher), certificate or diploma program.
  • Preparation for a specific career with specialization in one skill area.
  • Specialized programs offer training in a technical area (i.e., medical technology, business, cosmetology or computer programming) and few general education classes are required.
  • Offer career-specific core classes.
  • May offer an associate’s (two-year) degree, certificate or diploma program.
  • Specialized occupational preparation.
  • Many students attend before transferring to a four-year college or university.
  • Class size is generally small and students are able to receive individual attention.
  • An affordable option.

Liberal Arts Colleges

Universities

Business/Health Profession Institutes

Community Colleges

Central College
www.central.edu

Clarke College
www.clarke.edu

Coe College
www.coe.edu

Cornell College  
www.cornellcollege.edu

Divine Word College
www.dwci.edu

Dordt College
www.dordt.edu

Emmaus Bible College www.emmaus.edu

Faith Baptist Bible College
www.faith.edu

Grand View College www.gvc.edu

Grinnell College www.grinnell.edu

Iowa Wesleyan College www.iwc.edu

Loras College
www.loras.edu

Luther College
www.luther.edu

Morningside College www.morningside.edu

Mount Mercy College www.mtmercy.edu

Northwestern College www.nwciowa.edu

Simpson College
www.simpson.edu

Vennard College
www.vennard.edu

Waldorf College
www.waldorf.edu

Wartburg College
www.wartburg.edu

Ashford University
www.ashford.edu

Briar Cliff University
www.briarcliff.edu

Buena Vista University
www.bvu.edu

Des Moines University
www.dmu.edu

Drake University
www.choose.drake.edu

Graceland University
www.graceland.edu

Iowa State University
www.iastate.edu

Maharishi University of Management
www.mum.edu

St. Ambrose University
www.sau.edu

University of Dubuque
www.dbq.edu

University of Iowa
www.uiowa.edu

University of Northern Iowa
www.uni.edu

Upper Iowa University
www.uiu.edu

William Penn University www.wmpenn.edu

AIB College of Business
www.aib.edu

Allen College
www.allencollege.edu

Hamilton College
www.hamiltonia.edu

Kaplan University
www.kaplan.edu

Mercy College of
Health Sciences
www.mchs.edu

Palmer College of Chiropractic
www.palmer.edu

St Luke’s College
www.stlukes.org

Clinton 
Community College
www.eicc.edu

Des Moines Area Community College
www.dmacc.edu

Ellsworth 
Community College
www.iavalley.cc.ia.us/ecc

Hawkeye 
Community College
www.hawkeyecollege.edu

Indian Hills 
Community College
www.indianhills.edu

Iowa Central 
Community College
www.iowacentral.com

Iowa Lakes 
Community College
www.iowalakes.edu

Iowa Western 
Community College
www.iwcc.edu

Kirkwood Community College
www.kirkwood.edu

Marshalltown 
Community College
www.iavalley.cc.ia.us/mcc

Muscatine Community College
www.eicc.edu

North Iowa Area Community College
www.niacc.edu

Northeast Iowa 
Community College  
www.nicc.edu

Northwest Iowa Community College
www.nwicc.edu

Scott Community 
College
www.eicc.edu

Southeastern 
Community College
www.scciowa.edu

Southwestern 
Community College
www.swcc.cc.ia.us

Western Iowa Tech
Community College
www.witcc.com

  
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© 2008 Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation®  
Provided by Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation®