Drake University (Drake) Summary
Drake University is a private nonprofit university in Des Moines, Iowa, with institutional roots dating to 1881. Founded in 1881 and named for Francis Marion Drake, the university was designed as a broad, nonsectarian institution open without distinction of sex, religion, or race. In the context of Drake University, the university’s current profile is shaped as much by its mission and location as by the range of degrees it offers. Academically, Drake brings together arts and sciences, business, education, journalism and mass communication, law, pharmacy and health sciences, and Bright College pathways. For students at Drake University, undergraduate education combines university requirements with concentrated work in a chosen field and room for cross-disciplinary exploration. At Drake University, master’s, doctoral, and professional programs operate under their own school rules for admissions, curriculum, tuition, research, and practice. Research, creative practice, and professional preparation form another major part of the experience at Drake. Scholarship and applied work span health sciences, pharmacy, business, education, journalism, law, public affairs, sciences, humanities, and interdisciplinary fields. Its Des Moines location supports internships, legal clinics, health placements, media work, public-policy engagement, business projects, and community-based learning. Outside formal coursework, Drake University is shaped by a residential urban campus, the Drake Relays, Division I athletics, student organizations, arts, service, study abroad, and professional connections throughout Iowa’s capital city. Within Drake University, that setting broadens the educational environment beyond campus, allowing students to connect with organizations and professional communities that match their fields of study. Within Drake University, advising, student organizations, faculty mentoring, career programming, and alumni networks reinforce those connections in ways that differ by school. For students at Drake University, cost and admission also need to be read at the program level. Drake publishes a four-year tuition guarantee for entering undergraduates and extensive merit scholarship programs, including Presidential Scholarships and full-tuition pathways for qualifying Iowa residents. Within Drake University, applicants should compare the specific degree, school, term, required materials, scholarship rules, and direct charges rather than relying on a single institution-wide assumption. For students at Drake University, housing, food, health insurance, laboratory costs, technology charges, or professional-program fees may be separate from base tuition. Drake combines a compact university environment with professional schools, strong experiential learning, deep ties to Des Moines, and distinctive strengths in law, pharmacy, business, journalism, education, and public affairs. That combination gives Drake University a profile that is distinct from both a purely liberal-arts college and a narrowly specialized professional school. In the context of Drake University, students considering the institution should match their goals to the current catalog and then verify the exact curriculum, experiential requirements, costs, and admission pathway for the program they intend to pursue. Academic life at Drake also extends through research, internships, study away, service, student organizations, and profession-specific preparation. In the context of Drake University, these opportunities matter because they allow students to test classroom knowledge in real settings while building relationships with faculty, peers, alumni, and external partners. Across Drake University, the strongest fit therefore depends on more than a major name: students should examine how the program is taught, where experiential work happens, and what academic or professional milestones are required before graduation.





