Graduate College

The mission of the UI Graduate College is to foster an intellectual environment conducive to exemplary research, scholarship, and creativity among graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty. The College makes every effort to ensure that the graduate programs offered by the University are of high quality and stimulate the creation of new knowledge and information, and that these efforts simultaneously benefit both graduate and undergraduate student learning. 

The Graduate College promotes excellence in the academic community with 24 graduate colleges and programs ranked among the top 25 best programs in the nation (U.S. News and World Report, 2026). The UI Graduate College leads the nation’s public institutions in high-quality dissertations, with five winners and 15 finalists in the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS/UMI) Distinguished Dissertation Award competition.

The Graduate College, under the leadership of Dean Saba Ali, serves as an advocate for graduate education, allocates resources that support graduate students and programs, supports students’ professional development and career preparation needs, promotes well-being and belonging for all students, manages policies and procedures to establish and assess graduate programs, and fosters interdisciplinary programs. Ali, professor of counseling psychology, was named dean in January, 2026.

Programs

With programs in over 100 areas of study, spanning the Arts and Humanities, Biological Sciences, Health Sciences, Engineering, Education, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, and Business, the University of Iowa likely has a graduate program to fit your needs. We have programs and certificates in the classic disciplines and many new and emerging fields.