Sen. Tom Harkin’s papers from decades in the U.S. Congress will end up at Drake University, not Iowa State University. Harkin and Drake leaders made the announcement official Friday in Des Moines. Drake will create the Tom Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement, a nonpartisan center designed to serve as a hub for [...]

Kurt Backes faced a dilemma that led to a tough decision, but it was one he said he had to make. Backes confirmed Tuesday that he will be leaving his position as volunteer assistant after three seasons with the University of Iowa wrestling program to pursue another career option. His last day on staff is May [...]

A plan to spend $261 million paying off state bond debt and making investments in state universities won bipartisan support in a House committee Wednesday. However, the Republican-sponsored House Study Bill 239faces an uncertain future because minority Democrats are concerned it will starve their priorities and plunge the state into deficit next year. Democrats on [...]

Outstanding student loan debt has more than tripled in the past decade, reaching almost $1 trillion nationally. It now comprises the second-largest share of household debt, right behind mortgages. That’s led to widespread speculation that student debt could be the economy’s next bubble — and the next bubble to burst — with comparisons to the [...]

Colleges and universities spend thousands of dollars to protect the personal information they have in their computer networks, and officials say guarding against hacking and intrusion requires constant vigilance. Even with those efforts, the cost of a serious security breach can exceed what the schools pay for IT security personnel staff and network upgrades. Kirkwood [...]

Enrollment in for-credit distance education programs at Iowa’s three state universities has increased more than 54 percent in the past five years, and officials say interest in online courses is driving much of that growth. As distance education booms, officials at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa said [...]

IOWA CITY — The undergraduate student credit hours taught by graduate students at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University declined from 2006 to 2010, a decrease some officials and graduate student leaders attribute to the schools using more nontenured faculty. The biennial report on faculty activities submitted to the state Board of Regents [...]

IOWA CITY — Lisa Sedlacek walked to the end of the long gravel road, her family’s farm on three sides of her. There’s a hayfield to the north, grazing cattle to the south and cropland to the east behind the farmhouse guarded by a row of evergreens — all on a combined 210 acres owned [...]

DES MOINES — Iowa, it seems, has become a destination for companies that want to produce ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Gov. Terry Branstad has announced two such deals, one in Lee County and one in Woodbury County, each requiring more than a billion dollars in corporate investment in the past 12 months. There’s also talk of [...]

“Tractor rollover claims life” is an all-too-common headline in Iowa, and Andy Winborn is working to eliminate such news, with the help of university engineers and researchers. The numbers are alarming. Tractors are linked to more than half of farm-related deaths, both nationally and in Iowa. The National Safety Council estimates more than 350 people [...]