What our undergraduates are studying

February 25, 2026

Author: Anne Krapfl | Image: Christopher Gannon

Students collaborate in teams of 7-8 at round tables in a lab — Teams of students in Mechanical Engineering 2700 discuss ideas for a semester-long project in Hoover Hall on the first day of the semester last August. ME remains Iowa State's most sought undergraduate major.

Finance and aerospace engineering leap-frogged to the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in this spring's peek at the most in-demand majors among Iowa State undergraduates. Mechanical engineering maintained the top spot among all undergraduates as well as male students -- as it has for at least a decade. In fact, this spring, 13% of male undergraduates are working toward degrees in mechanical engineering.

Animal science continues in its long-term top spot among female undergraduates, though not at the same concentration as the male subset: about 7% of female students are in that major. Of note among female students, two College of Design programs, architecture (No. 8) and interior design (No. 10) climbed into the top 10 majors for the first time.

The data, collected on the 10th day of the semester, was shared with Inside by the staff in the office of institutional research.

In addition to finance, several other business degrees advanced on the top 10 majors list. Marketing rose to No. 6 among all undergraduates and No. 5 among female students. Accounting landed in the No. 9 spot among all undergraduates and No. 7 among female students. Student enrollment across the Ivy College of Business has been more accurate since fall 2023, when the college eliminated its "pre-business" placeholder for lower-level students, who now may declare a major as incoming freshmen.

Big picture

The 10 most popular undergraduate majors this spring capture 38% of the 24,352 undergraduates studying at Iowa State. Among male undergraduates, 48% are pursuing one of that group's 10 most popular majors. Six of the 10 are an engineering field. As they have in the past, female students show a broader distribution of interest. Among them, 39% are in their top 10 majors, nearly mirroring the overall percentage.

Among this spring's 24,352 undergraduate students, 55% (13,510) are male and 45% (10,842) are female.

Spring semester 2026: Top 10 undergraduate majors*

Place	All undergraduates	Women	Men
1	Mechanical engineering 1,984	Animal science 764	Mechanical engineering 1,745
2	Finance 1,191	Psychology 548	Finance 987
3	Aerospace engineering 968	Kinesiology and health 524	Aerospace engineering 807
4	Kinesiology and health 925	Elementary education 508	Computer science 506
5	Animal science 921	Marketing 490	Civil engineering 447
6	Marketing 884	Biology 454	Electrical engineering 444
7	Psychology 720	Accounting 253	Software engineering 418
8	Computer science 610	Architecture 244	Kinesiology and health 401
9	Accounting 591	Mechanical engineering 239	Marketing 394
10	Civil engineering 557	Interior design 230	Computer engineering 345
Total	9,351	4,254	6,494

*Student's first major

Shifts over time

Ten years ago, in spring 2017, 32% of Iowa State's 28,334 undergraduates landed in one of the 10 most popular majors. Not included in that count were 1,750 in the Ivy college's pre-business designation for first-year students. Among female students, 38% were captured in their top 10 majors; among male undergraduates, that percentage rose to 40%.

Engineering disciplines captured the first seven spots among male students. Among female students, the top four majors were the same, just in a slightly jumbled order.

Spring semester: 2017 Top 10 undergraduate majors*