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Community colleges in Iowa

There are 11 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Iowa reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $6,525 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Iowa, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in Iowa

  1. Eastern Iowa Community College DistrictDavenport$4,848
  2. Indian Hills Community CollegeOttumwa$5,040
  3. Ellsworth Community CollegeIowa Falls$5,496
  4. Iowa Central Community CollegeFort Dodge$5,496
  5. Kirkwood Community CollegeCedar Rapids$6,176

Full Iowa cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in Iowa

  1. Kirkwood Community CollegeCedar Rapids7,591
  2. Eastern Iowa Community College DistrictDavenport3,520
  3. Iowa Central Community CollegeFort Dodge3,103
  4. Hawkeye Community CollegeWaterloo2,626
  5. Northeast Iowa Community CollegeCalmar1,697

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. Ellsworth Community CollegeIowa Falls29%
  2. Southwestern Community CollegeCreston16%
  3. Eastern Iowa Community College DistrictDavenport15%
  4. Iowa Lakes Community CollegeEstherville14%
  5. Hawkeye Community CollegeWaterloo13%

Iowa transfer guide →

All 11 community colleges in Iowa

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Eastern Iowa Community College DistrictDavenport3,520$4,848
Ellsworth Community CollegeIowa Falls499$5,496
Hawkeye Community CollegeWaterloo2,626$6,525
Indian Hills Community CollegeOttumwa1,495$5,040
Iowa Central Community CollegeFort Dodge3,103$5,496
Iowa Lakes Community CollegeEstherville941$7,392
Kirkwood Community CollegeCedar Rapids7,591$6,176
North Iowa Area Community CollegeMason City1,320$6,653
Northeast Iowa Community CollegeCalmar1,697$6,780
Southwestern Community CollegeCreston729$8,064
St Luke's CollegeSioux City167$24,175

About community college in Iowa

Iowa's 11 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Iowa community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Iowa routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Iowa's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.