IOWA — Federal Data, September 2026
The Best Trade Schools in Iowa, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
4 accredited institutions in Iowa report enough federal data to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The Iowa RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 4 ranked trade schools in Iowa, the median graduate needs 3.3 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $11,500, against median earnings of $42,474 one year after completion.
That puts Iowa faster than the national median of 3.6 months measured across the 153 institutions in our national ranking. The best performer in the state is Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, at 3.0 months.
Only schools that are currently operating, accredited, predominantly certificate or associate granting, and reporting both debt and earnings on at least four trade programs appear here. That is why this list is short: most institutions do not publish enough for a fair comparison.
IOWA At A Glance
What the federal data says about trade schools in Iowa
The Ranking
4 trade schools in Iowa, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion | Programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa Central Community CollegeFort Dodge, IA | Public | 3.0 | $12,000 | $44,338 | 42% | 4 |
| 2 | Western Iowa Tech Community CollegeSioux City, IA | Public | 3.2 | $11,000 | $37,520 | 50% | 5 |
| 3 | Kirkwood Community CollegeCedar Rapids, IA | Public | 3.4 | $11,000 | $42,392 | 43% | 7 |
| 4 | Des Moines Area Community CollegeAnkeny, IA | Public | 3.5 | $12,000 | $42,555 | 39% | 9 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers; earnings are median earnings one year after completion; both are medians across the school’s trade programs. Completion is the institution’s published rate.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback schools in Iowa, one by one
Iowa Central Community College
Fort Dodge, IA
Iowa Central Community College is a public institution in Fort Dodge. Across its 4 trade programs with publishable figures, the median graduate leaves with $12,000 of federal debt and reports median earnings of $44,338 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.0 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 0.3 months faster than the Iowa state median of 3.3. It reports a 42% completion rate. Its fastest program here is Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians.
Western Iowa Tech Community College
Sioux City, IA
Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public institution in Sioux City. Across its 5 trade programs with publishable figures, the median graduate leaves with $11,000 of federal debt and reports median earnings of $37,520 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.2 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and right on the Iowa state median of 3.3. It reports a 50% completion rate. Its fastest program here is Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians.
Kirkwood Community College
Cedar Rapids, IA
Kirkwood Community College is a public institution in Cedar Rapids. Across its 7 trade programs with publishable figures, the median graduate leaves with $11,000 of federal debt and reports median earnings of $42,392 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.4 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and right on the Iowa state median of 3.3. It reports a 43% completion rate. Its fastest program here is Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians.
Des Moines Area Community College
Ankeny, IA
Des Moines Area Community College is a public institution in Ankeny. Across its 9 trade programs with publishable figures, the median graduate leaves with $12,000 of federal debt and reports median earnings of $42,555 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.5 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and right on the Iowa state median of 3.3. It reports a 39% completion rate. Its fastest program here is Precision Metal Working.
Read It Carefully
Why this list is short, and what it does not measure
Absence from this page is not a verdict. Most trade schools in Iowa are missing because the Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, not because they scored badly. A small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all.
The measure is also a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing within a state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
By Trade
Or narrow it down to one trade in Iowa
For IOWA School Operators
Want to know how your school ranks, program by program?
We run this analysis for individual schools against their own federal data and show them where they sit against both the Iowa median and the national one. Where the answer is good, it is the strongest recruitment argument a school owns.
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