One of The University of Iowa's primary goals as an institution is to increase the diversity of its faculty, staff, and students. About one in 10 students belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group, and many campus groups help build a sense of community for first-generation college students and members of traditionally underrepresented groups.

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 an excerpt from the plan:

"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."

The Iowa Edge Program
The Iowa Edge program is a weeklong program held prior to the beginning of the fall semester to introduce African American, Asian American, American Indian, Latino, and first-generation college students to Iowa's campus.

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 became 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