Iowa started an education revolution as the first state to accept the Morrill Act terms. The act allowed states to sell federal land to finance a new college open to all regardless of wealth, race, or gender; offer a practical education; and share research knowledge. Iowa State University officially opened in 1869 and was the first coeducational land-grant school.

Today, the University serves as a local, state, national, and international resource in agriculture, business, design, education, engineering, family and consumer sciences, liberal arts and sciences, and veterinary medicine. ISU is a Carnegie Research 1 university. With more than 26,000 students hailing from nearly 130 different nations, ISU offers cultural diversity and brings a distinct international flavor to the Midwest.

Ways Iowa State University has made its mark:

• Home of the first electronic digital computer and the site of the creation of the fax machine.
  
• George Washington Carver got his start and Carrie Chapman Catt became inspired to lead the women's suffrage movement.
  
• Since 1996, Iowa State University has ranked among the top seven public universities in the nation in the number of freshman National Merit Scholars.
  
• In 2001, Yahoo! Internet Life magazine ranked Iowa State among the top 25 "most wired" universities.
  
• Iowa State's central campus was one of only three university campuses to make the American Society of Landscape Architect's 1999 centennial listing of "Medallion Sites".