education

Besides friendly people, Iowa is well-known for its quality education system. The state has the third-highest graduation rate in the country, and student scores on ACT and SAT college-entrance exams are always among the nation’s best. And, while quality of education seemingly depends on size of parental bank account in other places, Iowa focuses on providing all children with a great public education. 

In 2008, 92.4 percent of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 42.3 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher.  The total school enrollment in the metro area was 138,000 in 2006. Nursery school and kindergarten enrollment was 18,000 and elementary or high school enrollment was 90,000 children. College or graduate school enrollment was 31,000.