The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2025 total enrollment was 9,204 students.
The university was initially founded in 1876 as the Iowa 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 the Iowa Board of Regents.
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History
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 later, Iowa needed a public teacher training institution. The prelusive orphanage first opened as the Iowa Soliders' Orphans Home. The efforts to establish and orphanage were first promoted by Annie Turner Wittenmyer of Muscatine. She lobbied the Iowa General Assembly to establish homes in Cedar Falls and Davenport. In 1876, when Iowa no longer needed an orphan home, Black Hawk County legislators Edward G. Miller and H. C. Hemenway introduced legislation to transform the orphanage campus into the Iowa State Normal School. By thin margins, one vote in the Senate and two votes in the House, the bill passed and Governor Kirkwood signed into law the measure "for the special instruction and training for teachers of the common schools of the state."
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.
The school has been known under the following names:
Iowa State Normal School, 1876–1909
Iowa State Teachers College, 1909–1961
State College of Iowa, 1961–1967
University of Northern Iowa, 1967–present
From 2014 through 2018 the UNI hosted the Midwest Summer Institute: Inclusion and Communication for All, a two-day conference on facilitated 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.
Presidents
Since its founding, the university has had eleven presidents.
James Cleland Gilchrist, 1876–1886
Homer Horatio Seerley, 1886–1928
Orval Ray Latham, 1928–1940
Malcolm Poyer Price, 1940–1950
James William Maucker, 1950–1970
John Joseph Kamerick, 1970–1983
Constantine William Curris, 1983–1995
Robert D. Koob, 1995–2006
Benjamin J. Allen, 2006–2013
William Ruud, 2013–2016
Mark Nook, 2017–present
Academics
University of Northern Iowa colleges include:
Wilson College of Business
Education
Humanities, Arts and Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Graduate College
Study Abroad Center
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. 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.
Culture and Intensive English Program
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.
North American Review
The university is the publisher of The North American Review (called the NAR), a celebrated literary magazine that began originally in Boston in 1815. Its past editors have included James Russell Lowell, Charles Eliot Norton, and Henry Adams; while among its past contributors are Mark Twain, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Walt Whitman, Kurt Vonnegut, Joyce Carol Oates, Guy Davenport and Margaret 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.
Teaching and Research Greenhouse
The University of Northern Iowa Teaching and Research Greenhouse is a greenhouse complex incorporating botanical gardens for research and education. It is located on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar 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.
International collaboration
The university is an active member of the University of the Arctic. 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.
Athletics
The school's mascot is the Panther, represented as a sibling pair of mascots known as TC (The Cat) and his sister TK. They participate in the NCAA's Division I, in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) for most sports, the Big 12 Conference for wrestling, and the Missouri Valley Football Conference – in Division I's Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) – for football.
The major arena on campus is the UNI-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, the McLeod 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-seeded Kansas 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. Their Cinderella potential ended with a loss to Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen, 59–52. The win over Kansas earned them the 2010 ESPY 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. In 2010-11 she was named the Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year. 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. 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.
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 the Appalachian 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.
Student life
Student newspapers
Students Offering, 1888–1889
Normal Eye, 1892–1911
College Eye, 1911–1967
Northern Iowan, 1967–present
Fraternity and sorority life
Kappa Sigma
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Xi Delta
Alpha Phi
Gamma Phi Beta
Alpha Sigma Tau
Delta Sigma Theta
Transportation
UNI students may ride public transportation provided by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Black Hawk County for $0.75 a ride with a student ID. Routes 6, 7, 9, and 10 connect campus to downtown Cedar Falls, downtown Waterloo and various other destinations.
Notable people
Alumni
William R. Clabby, journalist and editor
Brittni Donaldson, professional basketball coach
Jane Elliott, antiracist and diversity educator
David Glawe, former Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis
Chuck Grassley (born 1933), senior United States senator from Iowa and president pro tempore of the United States Senate
Carolyn Hunt, First Lady of North Carolina
David Johnson, professional football player
Jacqui Kalin (born 1989), American-Israeli professional basketball player
Eric Keller, college wrestling coach
Chris Klieman, college football coach
Jason Lewis, politician and radio host
Brian Meyer, member of the Iowa House of Representatives
Jeremy Morgan (born 1995), professional basketball player
Patrick Murphy, University of Alabama head softball coach
Carter F. Nordman, member of the Iowa House of Representatives from the 19th district
Nick Nurse, professional basketball coach
Bryce Paup, professional football player
Faculty
Donna Alvermann, professor
Jeremy Beck, composer and professor
Harry Brod, former professor
Herb Hake, television personality
James Hearst, poet and former professor
Bonnie Litwiller, mathematics educator
Miguel Franz Pinto, vocal coach, conductor, and pianist
Mildred Hope Fisher Wood, special education teacher
Loree Rackstraw, literary critic and memoirist
Leland Sage, former professor
Norm Stewart, college basketball coach
Robert James Waller, professor, academic administrator, and author
Norma Wendelburg, composer