ADVERTISEMENT

University of Iowa surges past Ivy League schools to No. 2 in nation for writing

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
77,113
58,289
113
Although University of Iowa held steady at its overall national rank of No. 83 in U.S. News & World Report’s new “2022-2023 Best Colleges” assessment out Monday, the campus surged past a string of Ivy League schools on its list of best writing programs to claim the No. 2 spot in the country.


Topped this year only by Brown University — which established its writing MFA 33 years after UI in 1936 launched the nation’s first creative writing degree via its famed Writers’ Workshop — UI improved eight spots from last year’s No. 10 placement in U.S. News’ writing program rankings.


Coming in either on par or below UI on the new writing list were Ivy League schools Yale, tying UI at No. 2; Cornell and Harvard, tied at No. 4; Princeton at No. 9; and Columbia University at No. 11.


Advertisement

“This ranking reflects the breadth of our commitment to writing excellence at Iowa,” UI Provost Kevin Kregel said in a statement. “The world knows us for our unparalleled writing programs, but we are just as proud of the writing-related resources we provide to all students, whatever their field of study.”


Touting its reputation as “The Writing University” — largely for iconic programs like the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Nonfiction Writing Program, and International Writing Program — Kregel and UI President Barbara Wilson said UI’s writing excellence permeates across campus.


“The emphasis on writing and communication at Iowa benefits all students,” Wilson said in a statement.


UI’s overall ranking among the 443 U.S. institutions with a full range of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees remained unchanged at No. 83 — a spot it improved to last fall from No. 88 the year prior. Although UI slipped from No. 33 to No. 35 among just the 227 public universities in this year’s rankings, its overall score held steady at 63.


Iowa State University in the new rankings saw its overall standing drop from No. 122 to No. 127. Its public ranking slipped from No. 58 to No. 61.


University of Northern Iowa — which isn’t ranked nationally or among all publics — instead is considered among universities and colleges in the Midwest, where it improved from No. 19 last year to No. 17 this year. Among just publics, UNI remained at No. 2 in the Midwest region.


How and why they rank​


Daily News​


Newsletter Signup
checkmark-yellow.png
Delivered to your inbox every day







U.S. News calculates its annual rankings using “17 key measures of academic quality” that fall into nine broad areas like graduation and retention rates; graduate indebtedness; financial resources; student excellence; and alumni giving.


“Combined with expert opinions from other schools that determined one-fifth of each school’s overall ranks, half of what remains is calculated from input measures that reflect the quality of students, faculty, and other resources used in undergraduate education,” according to U.S. News.


The other half ties to outcome measures that “capture the results of the education a student receives at the institution.”


Scores for each measure are weighted — with things like graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, and undergraduate academic reputation holding the most weight.


“Peer assessments are subjective, but they are also important,” according to U.S. News. “A diploma from a distinguished college can help a graduate get a job and gain admission to top-notch graduate programs.”


Despite some criticism the rankings favor wealthy institutions and not those with specific missions to launch low-income learners into high-paying jobs, for example, U.S. News “believes the rankings methodologies are objective and fair.”


“Each school’s rank within its group of peer institutions is based on the same set of quality metrics” — including “social mobility,” which accounts for 5 percent of the overall score.


“Starting with the 2019 edition, we factored a school's success at promoting social mobility by graduating students who received federal Pell Grants,” according to a U.S. News FAQ.


Specialty lists​


In addition to its overall and broad national, public, and regional rankings, U.S. News has evolved its system to rank institutions in several breakout categories like “best value schools,” “best colleges for veterans,” “most innovative schools,” and “A-plus schools for B students.”


It also ranks schools with the best undergraduate business, computer science, engineering, and nursing programs, for example.


Regarding the “best value” list, which ties overall rankings to the amount of financial support available to students with need, UI dropped from No. 109 to No. 127 this year. Iowa State fell from No. 107 last year to No. 129, and UNI in its region moved up one to No. 55.


On the A-plus schools for B students list — described as “a listing of well-ranked schools that often enroll students who don’t have immaculate high school transcripts” — Iowa State ranked No. 42 in the nation, UI ranked No. 95, and UNI ranked No. 89 in its Midwest region.


UI’s undergraduate business program improved two spots to No. 34 in the nation, while its accounting program ranked No. 35 — improving 15 spots from last year’s 50th rank.


Where Iowa State last year topped UI on the computer science program list at No. 60, UI leapfrogged ISU this year — moving from No. 71 to No. 65, while Iowa State fell to No. 86.


Iowa State remained ahead of UI in engineering at No. 50, although that’s down from last year’s No. 45 spot. UI also dropped five spots in engineering from No. 63 to No. 68.


And among nursing programs, UI found itself in the top 10 at No. 9 — up one from last year.

 
With all the famous graduates of the Writers Workshop I always thought Iowa was the unquestioned top school for writing. They will continue to be in my mind. F Brown.
 
We're probably about the same level as the Ivy Leaguers in "offense", too....
 
Although University of Iowa held steady at its overall national rank of No. 83 in U.S. News & World Report’s new “2022-2023 Best Colleges” assessment out Monday, the campus surged past a string of Ivy League schools on its list of best writing programs to claim the No. 2 spot in the country.


Topped this year only by Brown University — which established its writing MFA 33 years after UI in 1936 launched the nation’s first creative writing degree via its famed Writers’ Workshop — UI improved eight spots from last year’s No. 10 placement in U.S. News’ writing program rankings.


Coming in either on par or below UI on the new writing list were Ivy League schools Yale, tying UI at No. 2; Cornell and Harvard, tied at No. 4; Princeton at No. 9; and Columbia University at No. 11.


Advertisement

“This ranking reflects the breadth of our commitment to writing excellence at Iowa,” UI Provost Kevin Kregel said in a statement. “The world knows us for our unparalleled writing programs, but we are just as proud of the writing-related resources we provide to all students, whatever their field of study.”


Touting its reputation as “The Writing University” — largely for iconic programs like the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Nonfiction Writing Program, and International Writing Program — Kregel and UI President Barbara Wilson said UI’s writing excellence permeates across campus.


“The emphasis on writing and communication at Iowa benefits all students,” Wilson said in a statement.


UI’s overall ranking among the 443 U.S. institutions with a full range of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees remained unchanged at No. 83 — a spot it improved to last fall from No. 88 the year prior. Although UI slipped from No. 33 to No. 35 among just the 227 public universities in this year’s rankings, its overall score held steady at 63.


Iowa State University in the new rankings saw its overall standing drop from No. 122 to No. 127. Its public ranking slipped from No. 58 to No. 61.


University of Northern Iowa — which isn’t ranked nationally or among all publics — instead is considered among universities and colleges in the Midwest, where it improved from No. 19 last year to No. 17 this year. Among just publics, UNI remained at No. 2 in the Midwest region.


How and why they rank​


Daily News​


Newsletter Signup
checkmark-yellow.png
Delivered to your inbox every day







U.S. News calculates its annual rankings using “17 key measures of academic quality” that fall into nine broad areas like graduation and retention rates; graduate indebtedness; financial resources; student excellence; and alumni giving.


“Combined with expert opinions from other schools that determined one-fifth of each school’s overall ranks, half of what remains is calculated from input measures that reflect the quality of students, faculty, and other resources used in undergraduate education,” according to U.S. News.


The other half ties to outcome measures that “capture the results of the education a student receives at the institution.”


Scores for each measure are weighted — with things like graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, and undergraduate academic reputation holding the most weight.


“Peer assessments are subjective, but they are also important,” according to U.S. News. “A diploma from a distinguished college can help a graduate get a job and gain admission to top-notch graduate programs.”


Despite some criticism the rankings favor wealthy institutions and not those with specific missions to launch low-income learners into high-paying jobs, for example, U.S. News “believes the rankings methodologies are objective and fair.”


“Each school’s rank within its group of peer institutions is based on the same set of quality metrics” — including “social mobility,” which accounts for 5 percent of the overall score.


“Starting with the 2019 edition, we factored a school's success at promoting social mobility by graduating students who received federal Pell Grants,” according to a U.S. News FAQ.


Specialty lists​


In addition to its overall and broad national, public, and regional rankings, U.S. News has evolved its system to rank institutions in several breakout categories like “best value schools,” “best colleges for veterans,” “most innovative schools,” and “A-plus schools for B students.”


It also ranks schools with the best undergraduate business, computer science, engineering, and nursing programs, for example.


Regarding the “best value” list, which ties overall rankings to the amount of financial support available to students with need, UI dropped from No. 109 to No. 127 this year. Iowa State fell from No. 107 last year to No. 129, and UNI in its region moved up one to No. 55.


On the A-plus schools for B students list — described as “a listing of well-ranked schools that often enroll students who don’t have immaculate high school transcripts” — Iowa State ranked No. 42 in the nation, UI ranked No. 95, and UNI ranked No. 89 in its Midwest region.


UI’s undergraduate business program improved two spots to No. 34 in the nation, while its accounting program ranked No. 35 — improving 15 spots from last year’s 50th rank.


Where Iowa State last year topped UI on the computer science program list at No. 60, UI leapfrogged ISU this year — moving from No. 71 to No. 65, while Iowa State fell to No. 86.


Iowa State remained ahead of UI in engineering at No. 50, although that’s down from last year’s No. 45 spot. UI also dropped five spots in engineering from No. 63 to No. 68.


And among nursing programs, UI found itself in the top 10 at No. 9 — up one from last year.

And given that 'creative writing' is basically bullshit, I'd feel perfectly comfortable if you claimed the #1 spot. Congrats!
 
  • Wow
Reactions: torbee
With all the famous graduates of the Writers Workshop I always thought Iowa was the unquestioned top school for writing. They will continue to be in my mind. F Brown.
in addition to the literary writers, i believe there are a bunch of movies and tv shows that iowa writers wrote/are writing. if anybody knows, post a list ...
 
The curators of that list have clearly never read Tuesdays With Torbee. ;)
 
in addition to the literary writers, i believe there are a bunch of movies and tv shows that iowa writers wrote/are writing. if anybody knows, post a list ...
By no means exhaustive but Workshop graduates were writers for

West Wing
Sopranos
Six Feet Under
Mad Men
Girls
House of Cards
Game of Thrones
Blue Bloods
Northern Exposure
 
  • Like
Reactions: desihawk
This is actually cool. It proves one more time, that there are good universities, not only Ivy League, which I think is overrated a little
Especially with undergrad work, the difference between a decent University and an Ivy League school aren't too much, although Ivy league schools do tend to start at a higher jumping off point for most of their students (Like Calculus 3 will be the starting point for many math majors there). However, the rules for calculus are the same no matter where you take it at. The biggest advantage Ivy League schools have are the connections you make while you are there. You end up going to school with a lot of kids of billionaires and they can totally hook you up with a great job right out of school. Not to say that people there aren't capable, since the people that go to ivy league schools are highly motivated people most of them graduate and end up being successful at something simply because of how capable they are.
 
By no means exhaustive but Workshop graduates were writers for

West Wing
Sopranos
Six Feet Under
Mad Men
Girls
House of Cards
Game of Thrones
Blue Bloods
Northern Exposure



West Wing - Sucked!
Sopranos- TOTALLY Sucked!
Six Feet Under- Sucked!
Mad Men- Sucked!
Girls- Sucked!
House of Cards- TOTALLY Sucked!
Game of Thrones- TOTALLY TOTALLY Sucked!
Blue Bloods- Sucked!
Northern Exposure- Sucked!
😉
 
Not for long... Wait until Kim and her merry band of illiterate supporters hear about this...
 
An anti-literatarian.

You don't see many of those types anymore.

Poor soul.
Not at all. I'm sincerely congratulating UI on this issue. We need more people who can write clearly. But let's face it, on a global scale, American literature, with the exception of Mark Twain, is largely crap.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BanjoSaysWoof
This is actually cool. It proves one more time, that there are good universities, not only Ivy League, which I think is overrated a little

this 100x

I taught at one of the ivys (adjunct level). The only real subjects where I think the ivy’s are by and large superior (as a blanket statement) are the math based sciences (bio, chem, physics, and of course math itself). They tend to have better research facilities so attract better minds to teach and do research.

for everything else, the ivys can be a little to way way way overrated.
 
ADVERTISEMENT