As a comprehensive liberal arts college at the heart of a major research university, CLAS offers plentiful opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration in research and creative production, as well as opportunities for developing teaching skills.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) is the academic home of approximately 1,700 graduate students at the University of Iowa. As the largest of the university's 11 colleges offering advanced degrees through the Graduate College, CLAS supports cutting-edge research, scholarship, and creative work through nearly 50 graduate and professional degree programs in the arts, humanities, and sciences.

Graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the research support and many opportunities for professional development offered by CLAS, the Graduate College, International Programs, and the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies.

33 %

of University of Iowa graduate students study in CLAS programs

47

CLAS programs have active graduate students

Graduate student stories

Dustin Swarm

CLAS physics and astronomy postdoctoral research scholar receives $1 million NASA grant

Monday, July 22, 2024
Dustin Swarm, a postdoctoral research scholar in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will use the award to develop imaging technology to better see our galaxy.
A student poses in front of a downtown banner

Nominate a student or postdoc for the downtown banner campaign

Monday, June 24, 2024
Members of the University of Iowa community can now nominate outstanding undergraduate, grad student, and postdoctoral researchers for the 2025 Dare to Discover banner campaign, which is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR).
A portrait of Midha Ahmad

CLAS PBS graduate student explores coordination of brain and breathing rhythms during sleep

Monday, June 24, 2024
University of Iowa researchers, including graduate student Midha Ahmad, have uncovered a brain rhythm in the brain stem of sleeping infant rats that mirrors the rhythm in the cerebral cortex.