Sep 16, 2020

UNI remains one of the top public universities in the Midwest

In just the last few weeks, the University of Northern Iowa was named one of the top public universities in the Midwest – winning praise for its work with undergrads and veterans – and ranked third nationally in preparing students to become certified public accountants.

UNI maintained its rank as the Midwest’s second-best regional public university in the recently released 2021 U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges 2020” report. UNI is also in the top 20 public regional universities in the 12-state Midwest region when it comes to undergraduate teaching and serving veterans and active-duty service members.

“UNI strives for excellence in all we do, and we’re pleased to be recognized again as one of the top public universities in the Midwest,” said UNI President Mark A. Nook. “No mere numbers analysis can capture how truly special our faculty and staff are and the outsized impact they have on our students, community and the world. I’m especially proud that their work supporting veterans has been honored. We have our sights set on an even stronger focus on student success in the years ahead.”

The university’s accounting department ranked third in the nation in preparing students to pass all four parts of the notoriously difficult CPA exam, according to a new analytic by Baylor University and UNI professors. The metric found UNI students had an 89% success rate on the notoriously difficult test, just below Texas A&M University (90%) and the University of Missouri-Columbia (95%).

Joseph Ugrin, UNI professor and head of the accounting department, credited students' success in the CPA exam to the department's rigorous coursework and distinct programmatic elements that include a for-credit CPA review.

“This is one of the best programs in the country,” Ugrin said. “In addition to the CPA exam performance, you see our students competing and winning case competitions against the nation's best and performing well on the job, which has resulted in high demand for our graduates from firms in the region and around the country.

UNI was separately named the best public college in Iowa for getting a job by Zippia, an online career service platform. The company used U.S. Department of Education data to find the highest listed job placement numbers ten years after graduation in each state. UNI led the way with a 94% job placement rate.