The University of Iowa is a major national research university located on a 1,900-acre campus in Iowa City in southeast Iowa, on the Iowa River near the intersection of U.S. Interstate Highways 80 and 380. Iowa is composed of 11 colleges.

More than 30,000 students enroll at Iowa each year. Some 58 percent come from Iowa, 25 percent from adjoining states, and 9 percent from the remaining states. International students from 104 countries make up 10 percent of the University's enrollment. Approximately 500 students self-identify as veterans.  Another 300 of the staff and faculty also self-identify as veterans.