Profiles of Students Helped

Iowa’s private colleges and universities save lowa taxpayers more than $100 million annually by providing higher education to 44,000 students who might otherwise attend public institutions and receive taxpayer subsidy for tuition costs.

The most important beneficiaries of ICF’s annual activities are the students at Iowa’s independent colleges and universities. Here are facts about the students attending these institutions:

• 57% of the student body comes from Iowa.
• Nearly 91% of our students receive financial aid.
• Iowa’s colleges and universities provided $301 million in nonrepayable financial assistance to students last year – resulting in a 18% LOWER DEBT LOAD for private college graduates than graduates of state universities.
• Since 1990, nearly 70% of our Iowa graduates and 20% of our out-of-state graduates have remained in the state to work or continue their studies.
• While Iowa’s private colleges and universities enrolled only 26% of the total undergraduate students in Iowa, they awarded 45% of all four-year degrees in 2007.

Nearly one-third of the students attending ICF’s colleges and universities are first-generation college students.

Nearly 56% of students entering ICF’s colleges and universities directly from high school earn degrees within four years, compared with 17% at Iowa’s public universities.

More than 76% of all graduates from ICF’s colleges and universities last year entered the work force or began professional/graduate studies within six months of graduation.

Half of the students at ICF’s colleges participate in volunteer activities in their communities, averaging eight hours a week.