University of Northern Iowa President Mark Nook announced today that he will retire at the end of the current academic year. Nook is Holstein, Iowa native who became the Cedar Falls school’s 11th president in February of 2017.
Nook has been working to improve the schools enrollment the last several years and said in September there is good news.
“Everyone knows since 2010 enrollment had been going down, we leveled off a few years ago, and now we are starting to show some real growth. With 90-thousand-306 student, It’s the largest enrollment we have had since 2020,” Nook said.
Nook told the Board of Regents there are signs the growth will continue. “Our incoming freshman class had a growth of 10% to 1,700. It’s an amazing growth and gives us the base for future growth. So we see a real upward trend because this isn’t just a small growth in overall enrollment,” he said. One of the new programs allows students in six surrounding states to enroll at UNI and pay in-state tuition. Nook says the program is just getting underway and it will not change the nature of the school.
“You know, we are still 88% Iowa residents students,” he said, “we are growing the non-residents, but we are still 88% Iowa kids.”
Nook oversaw the 150th anniversary celebration of the university this past year. He said in a statement announcing his retirement that for him and his wife “It is one of the greatest privileges of our lives to serve the people of Iowa and in particular the students, alumni, faculty and staff of the University of Northern Iowa.”
