Washington Monthly: ‘Iowa State might be the best college in America’

A Washington magazine believes that Iowa State University could be the best college in America due to the rise in faculty employment and keeping students enrolled.

Nov 30, 2013; Morgantown, WV, USA; Iowa State Cyclones defensive back Levi Peters (35) hunts the Iowa State Cyclones mascot after the defense held West Virginia Mountaineers scoreless in the third overtime at Milan Puskar Stadium. Iowa State Cyclones defeated West Virginia Mountaineers 52-44 in the third overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The magazine first points to an article from Slate on how Iowa State is the only college “in the entire country” with a rise in employing faculty workers while dissolving their adminstration (!!).

"ISU President Steven Leath explained to the Des Moines Register that ISU wanted to “run a very lean operation and put as much into direct support of students and faculty” as possible, boosting full-time faculty hiring by an astounding 41 percent."

Slate reports that Iowa State’s “student retention is up 3 percent since 2005.” As a person that still lives in Ames after college, getting a place to live is becoming harder and costs have risen. I’ve lived in my same apartment complex for over five years. This was the first year that renewals on our lease were due in December and not in March, and the rent has risen far more than any other year.

According to Iowa State’s official website, student enrollment was 33,241 beginning in the fall of 2013, more than a seven percent increase from last year. In comparison, 31,065 students enrolled at the University of Iowa in same time frame, and that number is shrinking.

Because of this, Washington Monthly gave their recommendation won why Iowa State is a solid candidate for the best school in the country.

"This sort of growth is hard to avoid, and American colleges tend not to get much credit when they resist the trend. While obviously Iowa State is a gigantic institution composed of many different components, its very real focus on hiring tenure-track faculty and keeping students enrolled from year to year is something for which we should commend the school."

Take that, University of Iowa.