Find Colleges for Your GPA

Find target, reach, and safety schools based on your GPA, with acceptance rates and test score data for thousands of colleges.

Where your 4.0 fits: Safety, Target or Reach, from each college's reported average GPA and acceptance rate. A guide, not a prediction.

Colleges in IowaEvery college we list in Iowa, with its average GPA and test scores where it reports them.

Showing 30 of 52 colleges
Colleges that report an average GPA (4) · best fit first
University of IowaIowa City, Iowa Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,84% admitted
Average GPA3.83As reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%570–670 R&W560–660 Math
ACT, middle 50%21–28
Your 4.0their average 3.83Safety
University of Northern IowaCedar Falls, Iowa Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,93% admitted
Average GPA3.61As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%520–650 R&W500–630 Math
ACT, middle 50%19–26
Your 4.0their average 3.61Safety
Saint Ambrose UniversityDavenport, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,77% admitted
Average GPA3.32As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%490–580 R&W440–590 Math
ACT, middle 50%20–25
Your 4.0their average 3.32Safety
Central CollegePella, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,86% admitted
Average GPA3.56As reported by the college for 2024⁠–⁠25
SAT, middle 50%528–560 R&W528–560 Math
ACT, middle 50%20–26
Your 4.0their average 3.56Safety
More colleges in your filters (no GPA reported)
Iowa State UniversityAmes, Iowa Public, 4-yearEasy to get into,89% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%560–670 R&W560–690 Math
ACT, middle 50%21–28
Upper Iowa UniversityFayette, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,96% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%17–23
Drake UniversityDes Moines, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,64% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%580–680 R&W530–670 Math
ACT, middle 50%24–29
Waldorf UniversityForest City, Iowa Private for-profit, 4-yearEasy to get into,77% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Grinnell CollegeGrinnell, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearHard to get into,15% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%700–750 R&W710–790 Math
ACT, middle 50%31–34
Dordt UniversitySioux Center, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,68% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%540–670 R&W530–660 Math
ACT, middle 50%21–29
Grand View UniversityDes Moines, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,99% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Wartburg CollegeWaverly, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,76% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%470–620 R&W460–580 Math
ACT, middle 50%21–27
University of DubuqueDubuque, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,89% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%490–610 R&W490–610 Math
ACT, middle 50%18–24
Buena Vista UniversityStorm Lake, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,78% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%19–26
Luther CollegeDecorah, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,72% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%550–668 R&W528–738 Math
ACT, middle 50%22–29
William Penn UniversityOskaloosa, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,52% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%450–570 R&W430–540 Math
ACT, middle 50%16–22
Simpson CollegeIndianola, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,86% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%31–33
Coe CollegeCedar Rapids, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,64% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%540–640 R&W530–650 Math
ACT, middle 50%23–29
Northwestern CollegeOrange City, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,80% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Morningside UniversitySioux City, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,71% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Mount Mercy UniversityCedar Rapids, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,83% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Loras CollegeDubuque, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,100% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Cornell CollegeMount Vernon, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,80% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%575–655 R&W545–630 Math
ACT, middle 50%23–30
Maharishi International UniversityFairfield, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,96% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Mercy College of Health SciencesDes Moines, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,100% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%16–21
Clarke UniversityDubuque, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,72% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%430–570 R&W470–590 Math
ACT, middle 50%16–24
Graceland University LamoniLamoni, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,81% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%–
Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological SeminaryAnkeny, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,68% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%500–610 R&W490–580 Math
ACT, middle 50%19–26
Emmaus Bible CollegeDubuque, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearFairly easy to get into,60% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%570–690 R&W550–630 Math
ACT, middle 50%21–30
St Luke’s CollegeSioux City, Iowa Private nonprofit, 4-yearEasy to get into,80% admitted
Average GPA–
SAT, middle 50%–
ACT, middle 50%17–23
Browse by GPA 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3
Browse by state Alabama 59 Alaska 7 Arizona 40 Arkansas 47 California 286 Colorado 42 Connecticut 28 Delaware 5 Washington, D.C. 11 Florida 100 Georgia 89 Hawaii 14 Idaho 13 Illinois 117 Indiana 50 Iowa 52 Kansas 53 Kentucky 50 Louisiana 48 Maine 26 Maryland 45 Massachusetts 92 Michigan 77 Minnesota 69 Mississippi 33 Missouri 76 Montana 23 Nebraska 32 Nevada 10 New Hampshire 21 New Jersey 59 New Mexico 29 New York 223 North Carolina 122 North Dakota 19 Ohio 139 Oklahoma 41 Oregon 41 Pennsylvania 160 Rhode Island 12 South Carolina 55 South Dakota 19 Tennessee 66 Texas 164 Utah 18 Vermont 10 Virginia 82 Washington 62 West Virginia 32 Wisconsin 55 Wyoming 8 Northern Mariana Islands 1

How to read the figures

Example: how a college appears in the list
University of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan Public, 4-yearHard to get into,16% admitted
Average GPA3.90As reported by the college for 2025⁠–⁠26
SAT, middle 50%680–750 R&W680–780 Math
ACT, middle 50%31–34
  • How hard it is to get in: the share of first-year applicants the college admitted for fall 2024. Very hard is under 10%, Hard 10–24%, Moderate 25–49%, Fairly easy 50–74% and Easy 75% or more. Open admission colleges accept everyone, so they have no rate.
  • Average GPA: the average high school GPA of the college's first-year students, from the college's own yearly report (its Common Data Set), with the year and, when the college says, whether it's weighted. Colleges calculate GPA in different ways, so use it as a rough guide, not a cutoff.
  • Safety, Target and Reach: with your GPA in the box, where it fits at each college that reports an average GPA. Your GPA is compared with the college's average (0.15 or more above it, close to it, or below it), and the acceptance rate decides how much that counts: a college that admits under 15% of applicants is a reach for everyone. Colleges that don't report an average get no label: we never estimate one.
  • SAT: the middle 50% of scores of first-year students who sent them, for reading and writing (R&W) and math. A quarter scored below the range and a quarter above it.
  • ACT: the middle 50% of overall ACT scores, read the same way.

A dash means the college didn't report that figure.

Where the data comes from

FigureSourceData year
Acceptance rate, SAT and ACT rangesThe U.S. Department of Education's yearly college surveyFall 2024
Average high school GPA (268 colleges)Each college's own yearly report (Common Data Set)2023–24 to 2025–26
Average SAT for the SAT filter and sortCollege Scorecard, U.S. Department of EducationLatest available

Each college's page also has its enrollment, net price, admission factors and policies on AP and dual credit from the same survey, and gives the year of every figure. Admission policies change every year, so check anything important with the college's admissions office.

Sources

Reviewed by the GPA Calculator team · Updated October 2026

  1. IPEDS: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data SystemU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
  2. College Scorecard dataU.S. Department of Education (June 10, 2026 release)
  3. Common Data Set InitiativeThe standard format colleges use to publish their own admissions data