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2023 Best Trade Schools in Iowa
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for trade school students. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country.
The Best Trade Schools in Iowa ranking is one of many tools that Trade College Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 26 schools in Iowa to see which ones offered the best programs for trade school students.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Trade Schools in Iowa
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Waldorf University to be the best school for trade school students in Iowa. Forest City, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out degrees to 919 students in 2021-2022.
The excellent programs at Iowa State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best trade schools in Iowa. Ames, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 8,469 students in 2021-2022.
Out of the 26 schools in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Iowa landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the medium-sized public school handed out 2,755 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out of the 26 schools in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwest Iowa Community College landed the # 4 spot on the list. This small public school is located in Sheldon, Iowa, and it awarded 356 degrees in 2021-2022.
The excellent programs at Northwestern College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best trade schools in Iowa. Located in Orange City, Iowa, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 523 degrees in 2021-2022.
Luther College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Iowa ranking. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Decorah, Iowa. It awarded 499 degrees in 2021-2022.
University of Iowa came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Iowa ranking. Located in Iowa City, Iowa, the large public school handed out 9,271 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #8, Upper Iowa University did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Fayette, Iowa, and it awarded 1,328 degrees in 2021-2022.
Hawkeye Community College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Iowa list. Located in Waterloo, Iowa, the small public school handed out 925 degrees in 2021-2022.
Northeast Iowa Community College landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. NICC is located in Calmar, Iowa and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 596 degrees to qualified students.
North Iowa Area Community College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Iowa list. Located in Mason City, Iowa, the small public school handed out 903 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #12, Southeastern Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. Southeastern Community College is a public institution located in West Burlington, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 767 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #13, Western Iowa Tech Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. This medium-sized public school is located in Sioux City, Iowa, and it awarded 1,848 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #14, Graceland University - Lamoni did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. Graceland Lamoni is a private not-for-profit institution located in Lamoni, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 459 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #15, Iowa Central Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. Iowa Central Community College is a public institution located in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1,134 degrees in 2021-2022.
Des Moines Area Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for trade school students. It came in at #16 on the list. DMACC is a large public school situated in Ankeny, Iowa. It awarded 4,028 degrees in 2021-2022.
Mount Mercy University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. Mount Mercy University is a small private not-for-profit school located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that handed out 590 degrees in 2021-2022.
Ross College-Quad Cities came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Iowa ranking. This very small private for-profit school is located in Davenport, Iowa, and it awarded 36 degrees in 2021-2022.
Kirkwood Community College ranked #19 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Iowa list. Kirkwood Community College is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and has a fairly large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 2,365 degrees to qualified students.
Iowa Western Community College ranked #20 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Iowa list. Iowa Western Community College is located in Council Bluffs, Iowa and has a medium-sized student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 1,407 degrees to qualified students.
Indian Hills Community College ranked #21 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Iowa list. Located in Ottumwa, Iowa, the small public school handed out 735 degrees in 2021-2022.
University of Dubuque came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Iowa ranking. UD is located in Dubuque, Iowa and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 582 degrees to qualified students.
Marshalltown Community College landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. Marshalltown, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 435 students in 2021-2022.
Clarke University ranked #24 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Iowa list. Clarke is a private not-for-profit institution located in Dubuque, Iowa. The school has a very small population, and it awarded 264 degrees in 2021-2022.
Eastern Iowa Community College District did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for trade school students. It came in at #25 on the list. This medium-sized public school is located in Davenport, Iowa, and it awarded 1,143 degrees in 2021-2022.
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.