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The University of Iowa

IOWA CITY, IAFEIN 42-6004813NAICS 611310

Likely cap-exempt

Likely cap-exempt because most of its LCAs give NAICS 611310 (colleges and universities). Cap-exempt employers (universities, their affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit and government research organizations) hire outside the H-1B lottery. This is a rule applied to the data, not a USCIS determination; a for-profit college can match it. The rule

Certified LCAs, FY2026
246

247 filed, through June 30, 2026

Median offered pay, FY2026
$84,100

Yearly, certified full-time LCAs

Entry-level share
2%

13 software, data, finance or quant LCAs at level I or II, FY2025 and FY2026

USCIS initial approvals, FY2023
33

Workers new to H-1B employment with this employer

LCAs by fiscal year

Every Labor Condition Application this employer filed, by the status DOL gave it.

0100200300400FY2023: 237 certified LCAsFY2024: 264 certified LCAsFY2025: 324 certified LCAsFY2026 (partial year): 246 certified LCAs246FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026*
* partial fiscal year (latest DOL release so far)
Fiscal yearFiledCertifiedWithdrawnDeniedCertified workersSource
FY2023260237230251DOL LCA FY2023 Q1-Q4, 260 rows
FY2024307264421273DOL LCA FY2024 Q1-Q4, 307 rows
FY2025354324300324DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 354 rows
FY202624724610246DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 247 rows

FY2026 covers October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 (the latest DOL release). Withdrawn includes certified-then-withdrawn.

What is an LCA, and what do these statuses mean?

A Labor Condition Application is the form an employer files with the Department of Labor before an H-1B, H-1B1 or E-3 petition. It names the job, the worksite and the wage.

Certified means DOL accepted it. Withdrawn means the employer withdrew it. Denied means DOL rejected it. A certified LCA shows intent to hire into a role; it is not a visa and not a petition approval.

Offered pay

Yearly pay on certified, full-time LCAs with a valid wage. The bar spans the 25th to 75th percentile; the tick is the median.

Offered wage by role group, FY2025 and FY2026

Per fiscal year; percentiles are not combined across years. The prevailing wage is the wage DOL requires for the occupation, area and level on each LCA, annualized the same way.

Role groupYearCertified25th pctMedian75th pctPrevailing wage, medianSource
Software engineeringFY20263$94,077$97,392$97,392$78,957DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 3 rows
Software engineeringFY20254$94,709$96,000$96,841$78,416DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 4 rows
Data and analyticsFY20261$75,748$75,748$75,748$63,752DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 1 rows
FinanceFY20252$63,527$63,527$63,527$62,109DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 2 rows
Quant and actuarialFY20262$55,620$55,620$55,620$47,923DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 2 rows
Quant and actuarialFY20252$59,725$64,450$69,175$50,555DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 2 rows
IT and systemsFY20252$104,000$104,000$104,000$62,837DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 2 rows
EngineeringFY20262$68,165$69,839$71,512$56,847DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 2 rows
EngineeringFY20252$86,300$92,200$98,100$77,886DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 2 rows
OtherFY2026238$69,200$84,100$151,250$64,459DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 235 rows
OtherFY2025312$69,400$84,100$210,000$63,918DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 295 rows

Wage level mix, FY2025 and FY2026

The prevailing wage level the employer chose on each certified LCA. Level I is the entry level.

Level I
60%344
Level II
35%199
Level III
4%22
Level IV
1%5
Not stated
0%0

Since the FY2027 cap season, the H-1B lottery gives a registration 1 entry at wage level I, 2 at II, 3 at III and 4 at IV (rule effective February 27, 2026). USCIS announcement. Levels shown are those on past LCAs.

How is pay calculated?

Filed uses the lower end of the pay range on each LCA (the figure the employer commits to) and turns it into a yearly amount: hourly x 2,080, weekly x 52, every two weeks x 26, monthly x 12.

Amounts under $15,000 or over $1,000,000 a year are almost always a unit typo (a salary entered as hourly), so they are left out of pay figures but still counted as LCAs.

Role groups, FY2025 and FY2026

Certified LCAs by occupation group (from the SOC code on each LCA).

  • Other55096%
  • Software engineering71%
  • Quant and actuarial41%
  • Engineering41%
  • Finance20%
  • IT and systems20%
  • Data and analytics10%

Entry-level signal

13 entry-level LCAs, 2% of 570 certified, FY2025 to FY2026

entry-level LCAs = certified LCAs in Software engineering, Data and analytics, Finance, or Quant and actuarial at wage level I or II
share = entry-level LCAs / all certified LCAs, same fiscal years

USCIS initial approvals, same years: not loaded (USCIS years loaded: FY2023)

A count of past filings, not a probability of sponsorship.

Top job titles, FY2026

  1. 1CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR47
  2. 2ASSISTANT PROFESSOR35
  3. 3ASSISTANT RESEARCH SCIENTIST19
  4. 4HOUSE STAFF RESIDENT PHYSICIAN19
  5. 5POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH SCHOLAR19

Top worksite states, FY2026

  1. 1IA243
  2. 2MI1
  3. 3NC1
  4. 4WA1

USCIS petition decisions

From the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, matched by name, state and the last four tax ID digits.

Fiscal yearInitial approvedof which new employmentInitial deniedContinuing approvedContinuing deniedSource
FY202333–2485USCIS Data Hub FY2023, 2 rows

Initial = New Employment + New Concurrent (a change of status from F-1 counts as New Employment). The FY2023 file reports initial and continuing only, so New Employment is shown as – for it.

Initial or continuing: what is the difference?

Initial approvals are workers new to H-1B employment with this employer, including a student moving from F-1 (OPT) status. Continuing covers extensions, amendments and workers changing to this employer from another H-1B employer.

USCIS counts workers, not forms, and reports the first decision on each petition.

Name variants seen

Every spelling this employer used on its filings.

  • The University of Iowa1,152 LCAs
  • University of Iowa16 LCAs
  • THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA2 USCIS rows

LCAs are grouped by the employer’s federal tax ID (FEIN). A few one-off names under a large employer are usually another company’s FEIN typo. 601 LCAs in the last two fiscal years.