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Drake University

2507 University Ave, Des Moines, IA

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Drake University, founded in 1881, has built a strong national reputation for its journalism and mass communication program, and the university's Drake Relays, one of the oldest and most prestigious collegiate track and field events in the country, has been held continuously on campus since 1910. The university's law school and its Cowles Library have built solid regional reputations, and Drake's location in Des Moines, Iowa's capital and largest city, gives students access to the state's concentration of insurance industry headquarters and government institutions. Drake's role hosting nationally televised presidential debates and campaign events during Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus season has given the university's political science and journalism programs unusually direct access to national political coverage and campaign infrastructure every four years. The university's combination of a respected journalism program, its historic Drake Relays track and field tradition, and its recurring role in national presidential campaign coverage has made Drake one of the more distinctive mid-sized private universities in the Midwest.

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