One of The University of Iowa's top institutional goals is to continue to promote excellence in education by increasing the diversity of the University's faculty, staff, and students. Already, about one in 10 University students belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group, and there are numerous campus organizations devoted to building and enhancing a sense of community for members of traditionally underrepresented groups.

We welcome you to The University of Iowa, and encourage you to contact our new Office of Graduate Ethnic Inclusion for more information about our minority recruitment and retention efforts.

Student & Faculty Demographics
Campus Resources for Diverse Populations

The Iowa Promise
The Iowa Promise is a strategic plan identifying increased diversity as one the University's top five goals to accomplish by 2010. Here is what the University's Strategic Plan for 2005-2010 has to say about diversity:

"A diverse learning environment helps members of the University community challenge stereotypes and develop complex critical-thinking skills; better prepares them to become active citizens and leaders; and equips them to live as members of an international community in which success and happiness increasingly depend on the ability to appreciate and negotiate difference on a global scale."

Continuing a proud tradition
When the University first opened to students in 1855, it became the first college in the country to admit men and women on an equal basis. Three decades later, Iowa was the first U.S. college to grant a law degree to an African American, and by 1907, Iowa was home to the nation's first female college newspaper editor. Iowa also was the first college to devote a program to rehabilitating disabled children, the first tax-supported college to establish a school of religion, and the first to recognize a gay student union.

The Tradition Continues