With a new academic year underway, the U.S. News and World Report has ranked Iowa City West as the top public high school in Iowa.
The U.S. News and World Report’s Best High School rankings for 2025 assess the quality of public high schools based on several key metrics, each weighted differently. These metrics include college readiness and college curriculum breadth, state assessment proficiency and performance, underserved student performance, and graduation rate.
The study ranked the top high schools in the state and nationwide. Two Iowa City Community School District schools cracked the top 10, and one made it in the top 15.
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West High School received an overall score of 97.34/100. making it the top high school in Iowa and 447th in national rankings out of 17,901 schools. In 2024, West High secured the ranking as the top high school in Iowa and was ranked 626th nationally.
West High School has been the top-ranked high school in Iowa for four consecutive years. U.S. News and World Report considered 352 Iowa schools for its 2025 list.
Iowa City Liberty High School was ranked eighth, while Iowa City High School came in at No. 12.
Several factors contribute to annual rankings
West High School is one of five high schools (including online students and Tate High School) in the Iowa City Community School District.
Iowa City West’s scores are calculated by considering the following categories. The Trojans’ percentages are included in parentheses.
How many students have taken at least one AP Exam (65%)
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How many have passed at least one AP Exam (51%)
How many students are proficient in mathematics according to state assessments (73%)
How many students are deemed proficient in reading according to state assessments (74%)
How many students are deemed proficient in science according to state assessments (69%)
Graduation rate (95%)
Mitch Gross, Iowa City West interim principal, works at his computer amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, at West High School in Iowa City, Iowa.
How many students attend Iowa City West?
West High School has a student population of 1,472, in grades 9-12, according to the U.S. News and World Report. Mitch Gross has been the school’s principal since 2020.
He recently was named a finalist for the 2025 Iowa High School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators of Iowa (SAI). Gross said he credits positive outcomes at West High to “communication and collaboration with the other comprehensive high schools in Iowa City” and “embracing the diversity of the building.”
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West High School has a minority enrollment of 53.4%. Thirty-eight percent of students are economically disadvantaged, according to the report.
“Diversity is a strength, and it makes a community better, makes the school better, and we’re very proud of that,” Gross told the Press-Citizen in a previous interview. “I’m very proud of our team. The faculty and staff are second to none. They make me a better educator by questioning or raising different points, and I welcome and appreciate that.”
Seniors throw their caps into the air at the conclusion of the Iowa City City High School graduation May 31, 2025 at Xtream Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
Iowa City Liberty High cracks top 10, Iowa City High in top 15
Liberty High School and Iowa City High School also cracked Iowa’s top 15 list.
Liberty High School is eighth, with a score of 90.65. Iowa City High is 12th with a score of 85.61. Liberty High ranked fifth in 2024 while Iowa City High was 10th.
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“We are very proud to see West High once again recognized as the NO. 1 high school in Iowa. And to have Liberty High and City High also ranked among the top 12 out of nearly 400 schools statewide is incredible,” said Matt Degner, superintendent of Iowa City Community School District. “These rankings are a strong reflection of the hard work and dedication of our students and staff, and we’re pleased to see their efforts recognized.
We are so incredibly fortunate to have such outstanding high schools in our district and in our community.”
Nearby Williamsburg High School is ranked ninth thanks to a score of 87.15.
A student walks back to their seat during the Iowa City Liberty graduation ceremony May 31, 2025 at Xtream Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
Iowa’s top 10 high schools according to U.S. News and World Report
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Where do Iowa City high schools rank among U.S. News’ ‘best’ in Iowa
