Though the first business course at the University of Iowa was taught in 1858, graduate business instruction did not start until over 100 years later, when the Tippie School of Management was founded in 1960. Today, Tippie's academic reputation is in finance and accounting, ranked ninth nationally for finance by the Financial Times in 2009. Not confined to its Iowa location, Tippie offers MBA programs in Hong Kong and Beijing, China, in addition to its full-time onsite MBA. The school also runs executive MBA programs in Iowa City, Des Moines and the Quad Cities. The majority of campus recruiters at Tippie come from the Midwest, so students looking for jobs outside the region have to do a little more leg,work.

Out of the 70 required credits for obtaining the MBA degree, 30 are fulfilled by core requirements, leaving the last 40 for electives and concentration classes. Tippie has eight primary concentrations, after which students can use their remaining electives to focus in a secondary concentration in international business or entrepreneurship. For students interested in earning a joint degree, Tippie has five combined degree programs: MBA/MD, MBA/MSN, MBA/MHA, MBA/MLIS and MBA/JD.

Iowa City is a midsized city with a college town atmosphere from the large undergraduate population. Students can join in the rowdier college-type parties and football tailgates or go to one of several quieter, grad student,oriented bars in the neighborhood.