Rankings only tell you so much. Here’s the fuller record — state and national rankings, plus a season-by-season look at what students have actually won, built, and qualified for.
State Rankings
- Best High School for STEM & Arts — #1 in Iowa
- Most Diverse Private K-12 and Private High School — #1 in Iowa
- Best Private High School — #1 in Iowa, 8 years running
- Best Private K-12 School — #1 in Iowa, 8 years running
- Best Boarding High School — #1 in Iowa, 8 years running
National Rankings
- Top 1% of Most Diverse Private K-12 and Private High Schools nationally
- Top 3% of Best Private K-12 Schools nationally
- Top 4% of Best High Schools and Private High Schools for STEM nationally
- Top 7% of Best College Prep Private High Schools nationally
- Top 14% of Best High Schools for the Arts nationally
Academics & Scholarship
In 2025 alone, two students were named National Merit Scholars and the school ranked #1 in the University of Iowa Belin-Blank Center AP index. Going back further, three students have won full-ride, four-year scholarships to Princeton, UNC/Duke, and Holy Cross — a combined $966,000 in aid between 2021 and 2025. Historically, the school counts 18 National Merit Scholars and more than 100 National Merit Finalists, Semifinalists, and Commended Scholars.
STEM
2025 was a strong year: the Groff Traveling Trophy for Most Outstanding STEM School at the State Science & Technology Fair of Iowa, three International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) finalists including one Grand Champion, and three students placing in the Top 5 at the Iowa BrainBee Neuroscience Competition. The Rocketry Team has qualified for national competition every year from 2022 to 2025, and over a 30-year span, students have brought home 47 Iowa Science & Engineering Fair state championships along with multiple ISEF, I-SWEEEP, and NJSH awards.
Business Leadership & Destination Imagination
In 2024, students placed 6th in Group Competition and 3rd in Instant Challenge at the Destination Imagination Global Finals, and nine students placed Top 10 across 8 categories at the Iowa FBLA State Conference. Over a longer stretch (2000–2017), Destination Imagination teams brought home 60 state championships and 7 Global Finals 1st-place wins.
Arts
From 2022 to 2025, students earned Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) All-State Festival selection for Choral Reading Performance every year. In 2021, a senior won a national poetry competition and $5,000, presenting in Washington, D.C. Over 30 years, the school counts 18 State Drama Championships and dozens of student selections for Photography International and the Iowa Congressional Art Competition.
Sports & Athletics
Recent seasons have brought a 7th-place finish in State Girls’ Tennis Doubles (2025) and a 5th/6th-place finish in State Girls’ and Boys’ Singles (2024), with the Girls’ and Boys’ Tennis teams reaching the “Sweet 16” in Iowa State Competition in 2023. Over 30 years, Maharishi School has produced 18 Boys’ and Girls’ Tennis State Champions and two Boys’ Track and Field State Champions.
Sources: Maharishi School’s published rankings and achievements record. Have a more recent result to add? Send it to marketing@maharishischool.org.