H-1B Insights: Employers classified under Educational Services industry file 21 petitions in East Central Iowa News publication area throughout 2025

Employers classified under the Educational Services industry based within the East Central Iowa News publication area, submitted 21 H-1B petitions during 2025, according to data provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services via the H-1B Employer Data Hub. All of these petitions were approved.

Employers are classified under industries based on their reported operations and may be involved in multiple industries.

The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that generally require highly specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific specialty, or its equivalent. Employers must pay H-1B workers at least the higher of the actual wage paid to similarly experienced and qualified employees or the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of intended employment. These requirements protect H-1B employees and similarly employed U.S. workers.

The average approval rate for H-1B petitions across the United States in 2025 stood at 97.9%, slightly lower than 2024’s 98%. Locally, employers across all industries located within the East Central Iowa News publication area submitted 53 petitions during the same period, achieving an approval rate of 100%.

The Educational Services industry led the H-1B filings in the East Central Iowa News publication area during 2025, with 21 petitions (39.6% of all submissions), and an approval rate of 100%. Meanwhile, the Manufacturing industry was the second largest contributor, filing 13 petitions (24.5% of the total), with an approval rate of 100%.

The East Central Iowa News publication area employers with the most petitions categorized under the Educational Services sector during 2025 included Trustees of Grinnell College, which filed 10 petitions with an approval rate of 100%, The Society of Pella Christian Schools with four petitions and an approval rate of 100%, and Central College, which filed two petitions with an approval rate of 100%.

Compared to 2024, the Educational Services sector in the East Central Iowa News publication area saw a 40% increase in the number of H-1B petitions during 2025.

Federal data show that about 1.32 million people obtained lawful permanent residence, or green cards, in fiscal year 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Family-based categories accounted for 66.8% of the total, compared with 12.1% for employment-based categories. The H-1B program for specialty occupations and the H-2A program for seasonal agricultural work provide temporary work authorization; receiving one of those visas does not itself grant permanent residence.

In an August 2024 Pew Research Center survey, 46% of U.S. adults said legal immigration should remain at its current level. Asked separately which groups should receive top priority for legal immigration, 42% named highly skilled workers, 25% named people filling labor shortages, including agricultural workers, and 19% named people with close family in the U.S. Separately, family-based categories accounted for 66.8% of green cards granted in fiscal 2025, according to USAFacts’ analysis of preliminary federal data.

Data in this article comes from the H-1B Employer Data Hub maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS says information transferred manually from paper forms may contain missing or incorrect employer names, tax identification numbers or locations. Approval and denial totals reflect the agency’s first decision on each petition and exclude subsequent actions, such as appeals or revocations, and petitions pending when the data were generated.

Information in this article was obtained from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The source data can be found here.