Catholic high schools in Iowa

Best Catholic high schools in Iowa

There is no official ranking of Iowa's Catholic high schools. These are the schools families most often shortlist, grouped by region. Use them to build a compare list — not as a quality ranking — and confirm each school's current entrance-exam policy directly.

How we ranked these schools

• Location and commute — most Iowa families choose among two or three commutable schools.
• Standalone 9-12 versus PK-12 system — Dowling and Regina are standalone high schools; Holy Family and Bishop Heelan totals include lower grades.
• Enrollment size — NCES 2023-24 figures are a scale signal, not a quality measure.
• HSPT coverage — no Iowa school in this directory yet has a source-reviewed HSPT page; ask each admissions office which test it uses this cycle.

Central Iowa and Des Moines

Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines is the school most central-Iowa families start with; St. Edmond in Fort Dodge is the next commutable option for the north-central part of the state.

Sioux City, Dubuque, and Iowa City

The Sioux City city page is a common landing point for northwest Iowa searches. Dubuque and Iowa City are the other historic Catholic-school centers.

Xavier in Cedar Rapids and Assumption in Davenport are well-known eastern Iowa Catholic high schools that are not yet in this NCES-based directory — check each school's site. Then compare on commute, size, and aid using the choosing guide.

Catholic high schools in Iowa at a glance

Schools

25 serving high-school grades

Cities

20 across Iowa

Students listed

15,099 across 25 schools reporting enrollment

Average enrollment

604 students among schools with published NCES enrollment

Grade span

2 schools serve grades 9–12 only; 23 also span lower grades

Verified HSPT guides

0

Looking for Catholic schools near you?

If your search was for catholic schools near me, start with our Catholic schools near me guide — it turns the search into a local shortlist: find your state, narrow to your metro, then compare the real schools in your commute on HSPT requirements, scholarships, cost, and fit. For Iowa specifically, pick a city above for the local list, then open each school page to confirm HSPT dates and admissions deadlines.

Catholic high schools in the Des Moines area and central Iowa

West Des Moines is home to Dowling Catholic High School, the largest Catholic high school in Iowa at about 1,354 students per NCES 2023-24 data. The rest of central Iowa's Catholic high schools serve smaller communities: Kuemper Catholic in Carroll, St. Edmond in Fort Dodge, and St. Albert Catholic in Council Bluffs, across the river from Omaha. Families here fall under the Diocese of Des Moines, and most are choosing among a small set of commutable schools.

Catholic high schools in Dubuque and northeast Iowa

Dubuque is the historic heart of Catholic Iowa: Holy Family Catholic Schools runs the city's Catholic high school - Wahlert Catholic - and the region is the Archdiocese of Dubuque's home ground. The directory's northeast cluster also covers Beckman Catholic in Dyersville, Marquette Catholic in Bellevue, the Bosco and Immaculate Conception-St. Joseph campuses in Gilbertville, Cedar Valley Catholic in Waterloo (whose high school is Columbus), Newman Catholic in Mason City, and Bishop Garrigan in Algona.

Catholic high schools in Sioux City and northwest Iowa

Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools anchors northwest Iowa's Catholic high school options in Sioux City, with Gehlen Catholic in Le Mars, St. Mary's in Remsen, and St. Mary's in Storm Lake rounding out the Diocese of Sioux City. The Sioux City metro is where a lot of Iowa Catholic-school search demand comes from, so start with that city page for the local list.

Catholic high schools in Iowa City, the Quad Cities, and eastern Iowa

Regina Catholic in Iowa City, Prince of Peace in Clinton, Burlington Notre Dame, and the Holy Trinity schools in Fort Madison and West Point make up the directory's eastern Iowa set within the Diocese of Davenport. Two well-known eastern Iowa Catholic high schools - Xavier in Cedar Rapids and Assumption in Davenport - are not yet in this NCES-based directory, so check each school's own site for the complete list.

Largest Catholic high schools in Iowa

Enrollment is a useful scale signal, but it is not a quality measure - and Iowa's numbers need a caveat: the biggest NCES figures belong to PK-12 systems (Holy Family in Dubuque, Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools in Sioux City, Cedar Valley in Waterloo) whose totals include elementary grades. Among standalone Catholic high schools, Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines is the largest at about 1,354 students. These are the top entries by NCES 2023-24 enrollment:

How to compare Catholic high schools in Iowa

There is no official ranking of Iowa's Catholic high schools - and "best" lists from Niche and similar sites reshuffle every year and often mix public and private schools. What families can do is compare schools on the factors that actually decide whether a school works for their child:

• Location and commute - most Iowa families end up choosing among two or three commutable schools, so the daily drive matters more than the brochure.
• School size and grade structure - some Iowa Catholic high schools are standalone 9-12 campuses (Dowling, Beckman, Regina), others are PK-12 systems where the high school is one part of a single application (Holy Family, Cedar Valley, Kuemper, Gehlen).
• Single-gender versus coed - nearly every Iowa Catholic high school is coeducational; single-gender options are rare in the state.
• Academics and programs - AP and dual-credit offerings, STEM, arts, and learning support differ a lot between schools of similar size.
• Tuition and financial aid - tuition varies across the state, most schools run aid, and HSPT scores sometimes factor into merit scholarship consideration.
• Faith environment - diocese and religious order, service programs, and campus ministry shape daily life.
• Athletics and extracurriculars - Iowa Catholic schools compete in local and state associations, and offerings vary with school size.
• College outcomes - college-going rates and published matriculation lists, where available.

Admissions deadlines and HSPT dates are worth collecting early, but treat them as planning inputs, not reasons to pick one school over another. Choose on fit: where your child will be comfortable, challenged, and known.

Best Catholic schools: how to choose — Our choosing-a-school guide turns rankings into a real comparison, and the verified scholarship-deadline calendar tracks the 2026-2027 financial-aid cycle.

How Catholic high school admissions work in Iowa

Iowa's Catholic high schools operate within four dioceses - the Archdiocese of Dubuque and the Dioceses of Sioux City, Des Moines, and Davenport. Each school runs its own admissions office, but the shape of the process is similar across the state: research in 7th grade, apply in 8th grade, test in the fall or winter, and receive decisions in the spring.

Most schools require an application, prior school records or transcripts, and some form of entrance assessment; some add family interviews or placement testing. Tuition and financial-aid applications run on separate deadlines from the admissions application, so collect every deadline in one place early. Some dioceses let a single HSPT sitting count for multiple schools - ask each admissions office whether one test can be shared across your list.

A typical Iowa Catholic high school admissions timeline

1. Spring-summer of 7th grade: shortlist schools and note each one's entrance-test policy and tuition/aid dates.
2. Fall of 8th grade: applications open, campuses hold open houses, and families register for entrance exams.
3. November-January: entrance testing (HSPT or a school-specific exam) and most application deadlines.
4. Winter-spring: financial-aid and scholarship applications are due; admission decisions arrive.
5. Spring: enroll, complete placement paperwork, and confirm testing or waiting-list status at any remaining schools.

Which Iowa Catholic high schools use the HSPT?

The HSPT (High School Placement Test) is the entrance exam most Catholic high schools across the country use, and Iowa schools often give it during the fall admission cycle - but the policy differs by school and by application year. Catholic affiliation alone does not establish which test a school requires.

Our honest status for Iowa

As of this update, none of the Iowa schools in our directory has a source-reviewed HSPT record, so we can't yet say from our data which Iowa schools require the HSPT. The reliable move is to ask each school's admissions office directly - "which entrance test does your school use this cycle, and what date?" - before building a prep plan.

How to prepare for the HSPT in Iowa

If your target schools do use the HSPT, start with the free diagnostic to establish a baseline, then build a study plan around the earliest test date on your list. These guides cover the practical questions Iowa families ask:

HSPT scholarships for Iowa families

Some Iowa Catholic high schools factor HSPT scores into merit scholarship consideration, but the policy differs by school and year — ask each school's admissions and financial-aid offices directly. Start with HSPT scores and scholarships, then the scholarships by city guide, and build a study plan around the earliest confirmed test date.

Planning a Catholic high school application in Iowa

Entrance-test rules are set by the school or diocese and can differ even within the same city, so check each school's admissions site before registering. Work this checklist regardless of which schools end up on your list:

1. Confirm whether each school requires the HSPT or another entrance test for the current cycle.
2. Record application, transcript, recommendation, financial-aid, and scholarship deadlines separately for every school.
3. Ask whether one HSPT sitting can be shared across the schools you are applying to, especially within the same diocese.
4. Compare the daily commute, school size, academic programs, and tuition and aid - not just the name.
5. Build HSPT prep around the earliest test date on your list, starting with a free diagnostic to set a baseline.

Questions about Catholic high schools in Iowa