 | |
Former names | Iowa State Normal School (1876–1909) Iowa State Teachers College (1909–1961) State College of Iowa (1961–1967) |
|---|---|
| Motto | Lux (Latin) |
Motto in English | Light |
| Type | Public university |
| Established | September 6, 1876; 149 years ago (September 6, 1876)[1] |
Parent institution | Iowa Board of Regents |
| Accreditation | HLC |
Academic affiliations | Space-grant |
| Endowment | $211.4 million (2024)[2] |
| President | Mark Nook |
| Provost | Jose Herrerra |
| Students | 9,283 (fall 2024)[3] |
| Undergraduates | 7,716 (fall 2024) |
| Postgraduates | 1,567 (fall 2024) |
| Location | , United States 42°30′54″N92°27′38″W / 42.51500°N 92.46056°W /42.51500; -92.46056 |
| Campus | Small city, 900 acres (360 ha) |
| Newspaper | The Northern Iowan |
| Colors | Purple and gold[4] |
| Nickname | Panthers |
Sporting affiliations | |
| Mascot | TC Panther (male) & TK Panther (female) |
| Website | www |
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TheUniversity of Northern Iowa (UNI) is apublic university inCedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2025 total enrollment was 9,204 students.[5]
The university was initially founded in 1876 as theIowa State Normal School with the purpose of training school teachers and educators. The University of Northern Iowa is one of three public universities in Iowa, all of which are governed by theIowa Board of Regents.
The University of Northern Iowa was founded as a result of two influential forces of the nineteenth century. First, Iowa wanted to care for orphans of its Civil War veterans, and secondly, Iowa needed a public teacher training institution. In 1876, when Iowa no longer needed an orphan home, legislators Edward G. Miller and H. C. Hemenway started the Iowa State Normal School.[6]
The school's first building opened in 1867 and was known as Central Hall. The building contained classrooms, common areas, and a living facility for most of the students. It was also a home to the college's first principal, James Cleland Gilchrist. The building was the heart and soul of the school, allowing students to study courses of two-year, three-year, and four-year degrees. In 1965, a fire destroyed Central Hall, and school faculty and Cedar Falls citizens donated over $5,000 to start building Gilchrist Hall.[6]
The school has been known under the following names:
From 2014 through 2018 the UNI hosted theMidwest Summer Institute: Inclusion and Communication for All, a two-day conference onfacilitated communication sponsored by the Inclusion Connection and Syracuse University's Institute on Communication and Inclusion. Facilitated Communication is a discredited practice, and in 2018 UNI decided to discontinue the conference at the urging of multiple nationwide academics.
Since its founding, the university has had eleven presidents.[7]
| Race and ethnicity | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 84% | ||
| Hispanic | 6% | ||
| Black | 3% | ||
| Two or more races | 3% | ||
| Asian | 2% | ||
| International student | 1% | ||
| Unknown | 1% | ||
| Economic diversity | |||
| Low-income[a] | 25% | ||
| Affluent[b] | 75% | ||
University of Northern Iowa colleges include:
UNI provides an opportunity for the students to study in 25+ countries and select from over 40 programs. It is also available to all students attending the university.[9] The mission of the Study Abroad Center at the University of Northern Iowa is to provide service and leadership in international education to UNI students, faculty, staff, the community and the State of Iowa.[10]
The Culture and Intensive English Program (CIEP) is an intensive program in English for non-native speakers. It is designed to prepare students for academic work at the undergraduate or graduate degree level. University of Northern Iowa students are also encouraged to participate in the Conversation Partner Program to help foreign students with their English ability and foster cross-cultural relationships while gaining mutual understanding.
The university is the publisher ofThe North American Review (called the NAR), a celebrated literary magazine that began originally in Boston in 1815. Its past editors have includedJames Russell Lowell,Charles Eliot Norton, andHenry Adams; while among its past contributors areMark Twain,Henry James,Joseph Conrad,Walt Whitman,Kurt Vonnegut,Joyce Carol Oates,Guy Davenport andMargaret Atwood. In 1968, when the magazine was purchased by UNI,Robley Wilson was appointed editor, a position he continued in until his retirement in 2000. The current editors are Rachel Morgan, Jeremy Schraffenberger, Grant Tracey, and Brooke Wonders.
TheUniversity of Northern Iowa Teaching and Research Greenhouse is agreenhouse complex incorporatingbotanical gardens for research and education. It is located on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa inCedar Falls, Iowa.
The greenhouse contains plants from many ecotypes, including 250 tropical plants, two live birds, an extensive collection of arid climate plants, and the 1,200-square-foot (110 m2) Aquatic Learning Center.
The university is an active member of theUniversity of the Arctic.[11] UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region.[12]
The school'smascot is thePanther, represented as a sibling pair of mascots known as TC (The Cat) and his sister TK. They participate in theNCAA's Division I, in theMissouri Valley Conference (MVC) for most sports, theBig 12 Conference for wrestling, and theMissouri Valley Football Conference – in Division I'sFootball Championship Subdivision (FCS) – for football.[13]
The major arena on campus is theUNI-Dome, currently the home of the football team. The Dome also serves as a venue for many local concerts, high school football playoffs, trade shows, and other events. In 2006, the university opened a new arena, theMcLeod Center, to serve as the home for several athletic programs that had previously played in the UNI-Dome, including the volleyball and men's and women's basketball teams.
The UNI athletics program has enjoyed recent success, with the men's basketball team competing in the NCAA tournament three consecutive times in 2004, 2005, 2006, again in 2009 and 2010 and in 2015 and 2016. On March 20, 2010, the men's basketball team defeated the heavily favored, top-seededKansas Jayhawks to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. It was the school's first appearance in the Sweet Sixteen. The Jayhawks were favored to win the NCAA championship. TheirCinderella potential ended with a loss toMichigan State in the Sweet Sixteen, 59–52. The win over Kansas earned them the 2010ESPY Award for Best Upset.
Jacqui Kalin helped lead the women's basketball team to consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, as the team won back-to-back MVC Tournament titles.[14][15][16][17][18] In 2010-11 she was named theJackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year.[18][17] In 2012-13 she led the league in scoring (19.5 ppg; a school record), had the fourth-highest season free throw percentage in NCAA Division 1 history-and the highest of any senior (95.5%), and was again named the Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year.[15][18][19][20] For her career Kalin was first all-time at UNI in scoring (2,081),3-point field goals made (265), free throws made (484), and free throw percentage (.920) the NCAA Division 1 career record.[15][21][18][19]
The football team has been ranked in the I-AA (FCS) top 25 almost every year for the last two decades. The team appeared in the I-AA championship game in 2005, only to lose a close game to theAppalachian State Mountaineers. During 2007, the team was ranked #1 in the country by the TSN FCS poll for several weeks. The football team went undefeated in 2007 with an 11–0 record, a first for any school in the 23-year history of the Gateway conference. In 2001 and 2002 the volleyball team reached the NCAA Sweet 16 round, and in 2006 made it to the second round, and has competed in the tournament numerous times. The track team is also very successful (usually ranked in the top 25), as are the wrestling and volleyball teams.
The University of Northern Iowawrestling team won the NCAA Division I national championship as ISTC in 1949 and NCAA Division II national championships in 1975 and 1978. They competed in the Western Wrestling Conference until 2012, when UNI became an associate member of theMid-American Conference since the MVC is a non-wrestling conference. In 2017, UNI wrestling joined theBig 12 Conference. In 1977 the women's softball team won theAIAW national championship.[22]
Bryce Paup won the Defensive Player of Year Award by the Associated Press in 1995. In 1999 and 2001, UNI alumnusKurt Warner was named NFL MVP by the AP.[23]
During the 2014–2015 season, the men's basketball team ended the regular season ranked #11 by the AP Poll, the highest ranking in school history, and #9 byUSA Today.[24]
 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2020) |
UNI students may ride public transportation provided by theMetropolitan Transit Authority of Black Hawk County for $0.75 a ride with a student ID.[32] Routes 6, 7, 9, and 10 connect campus to downtown Cedar Falls, downtown Waterloo and various other destinations.[33]
Informational notes
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