About the Area

The Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention & Visitor's Bureau has an excellent website that can assist give an idea what the area has to offer in terms of regional activities and attractions, restaurants, accommodations, and events. 

Outside Magazine (Sept 2003) said "Iowa City is one of the ten most literate and enlightened towns in the nation, according to the American Booksellers Association. This city of 62,000, set on the winding Iowa River, is a pocket of sophistication with the feel of small-town America. Locally run bookstores, ethnic restaurants, cafés with gallery space, and organic grocers line the brick streets, and summers are a whirl of jazz musicians, artists, and food vendors...

"In this peaceful, unpolluted environment opportunities for recreating include numerous theaters, parks, University-sponsored cultural events. Of particular interest is Hancher Auditorium, which each year presents a large number of internationally renowned symphony orchestras, musicians, ballet troupes and theatrical performances...

Big Ten spectator sports, sailing, canoeing and cross-country skiing. All are readily available at relatively low cost'...There are 46 adventure-and sports-related organizations-everything from the Cycling Club to the Lawn Sports Club-and two student environmental groups. Mountain bikers head to nearby Sugar Bottom Recreation Area for its 15 miles of single track, paddlers row or kayak on the Iowa River, climbers tackle the limestone.

Campus Visit

General information on campus visits
Consider planning a weekday trip to campus to meet with someone who teaches in your field of interest. (Make arrangements beforehand with the department to ensure faculty availability.)

In general, academic departments are happy to arrange visits so you can meet faculty members and tour the department.

Campus tours depart from the Admission Visitors Center weekdays at 10:30am and 2:30pm. You can also visit the Office of Admissions (108 Calvin Hall) without an appointment, weekdays from 8am-4:30pm.

Graduate College

The Graduate College serves all of the graduate students at The University of Iowa, approximately 25 percent of the student body. The college awards more than 30 percent of all degrees.

Because the Graduate College works in conjunction with the other colleges at the University, it has a unique role on campus. It has, for example, become the center for many international and interdisciplinary programs. The college also approves new academic programs and evaluates existing programs at the graduate level.

The college's programs include strong links to research. Through its administration of scholarship, fellowship, and research funds, the college encourages research and strengthening of scholarships in departments and graduate programs.

Iowa's graduate programs have both depth and breadth. Students actively participate in the life of a large multifaceted university community. They receive specialized attention within their own disciplines while they exchange ideas with people from throughout the University's 11 colleges and almost 100 graduate degree programs.

Iowa Health Care

Through the University of Iowa's nationally recognized programs, students master a body of knowledge and ultimately contribute to it through their own scholarship and research.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, one of the nation's largest university-owned teaching hospitals, offers unparalleled resources for study and training in the health sciences as well as first-rate health care services to members of the community and citizens statewide.

Graduate Student Life

More resources for your journey at Iowa

Did you know...?

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Did you know...

Iowa City is 1 of 39 UNESCO Cities of Literature in the world and ONE of only TWO in the United States?!

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Did you know...

The CAMBUS is the University’s public transit system that provides bus service throughout the campus. Serving students, faculty, staff, visitors, and the community?

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Did you know...

You have probably heard of a few notable University of Iowa Alumni:

  • Tennessee Williams, author of A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof BA, 1938
  • James Van Allen, world-famous physicist and discoverer of two radiation belts (the Van Allen Belts) that surround the earth, Emeritus Carver Professor of Physics at the University of Iowa. MS, 1936; PhD, 1939, Physics
  • Gene Wilder, Comedic film and television actor whose credits include Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein, and Stir Crazy BA, 1955, Communication and Theatre Arts
  • John Irving, novelist who wrote The World According to GarpThe Cider House Rules, and several others, MFA, 1967, English
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Did you know...

Our 1,700-acre campus is bicycle friendly and there is a local bike library where you can check out bicycles?

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Did you know...

In 1923, Emma J. Harvat became mayor; she was the first woman to be elected as leader of a U.S. city with a population of over 10,000. Her election made history, and was covered in the news worldwide?

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Did you know...

According to some calculations, the Iowa Writers' Workshop is harder to get into than it is to get into Harvard Law?

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Did you know...

Iowa played in the nation's first collegiate basketball game in 1896?