Photo: Tony Webster (CC BY-SA 2.0)
School data & stats
Outcomes
Cost
Community
Overview
Idaho State University, in Pocatello, has built its identity around the health professions, serving as the state's designated lead institution for training pharmacists, nurses, and other allied health workers. It serves southeastern Idaho with a residential campus set against mountain terrain, giving it a more traditional collegiate feel than its health-sciences specialization might suggest.
Academics
Pharmacy, nursing, and allied health programs are the clear signature strength, backed by the university's statewide mandate in those fields, and engineering and nuclear-related programs benefit from close ties to the nearby Idaho National Laboratory, one of the country's major nuclear research sites. That combination gives ISU a genuine niche most regional universities its size do not have.
Campus & student life
Pocatello's setting, ringed by mountains, supports an active outdoor culture alongside a fairly traditional residential campus, and the university's role as southeastern Idaho's primary four-year option gives it a strong regional identity. Bengals athletics and a close relationship with the surrounding community round out campus life.
Getting in
Admission is accessible, with particular attention to prerequisite coursework for students entering the health professions or engineering pipelines that feed the university's signature programs.
Worth knowing
The connection to Idaho National Laboratory is a genuine and distinctive asset for students in nuclear engineering or related fields, offering research and employment pathways not available at most regional universities.
Admissions
Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)
Applying
isu.edu ↗High school coursework
Required16 total academic units · 4 units of English · 3 units of Mathematics · 3 units of Science (1 of which must be lab) · 1 unit of Foreign Language · 3 units of Social Studies
Recommended4 units of Mathematics (recommended) · Foreign language recommended (no specific unit count given)
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