Hunter09/23/25The latest US News & World Report rankings of the nation’s top colleges has been released, and the University of Iowa has dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since 2004. 49 among public universities from No. In the 2015 edition, the University of Iowa ranked 27th among public universities and No. 71 among all universities nationally,The report recognized the U of I among the best public universities for writing and communication, tying for tenth. This fall, the University of Iowa said they received a record number of applications and welcomed the second largest incoming class in the school’s history.