UI is a nice little town surrounded by millions of acres of corn plus some pigs. Plenty of Chinese students plus a few other international students in the mix. UMass Amhearst is a far better location. UMass would be more diverse except not quite the overwhelming majority of International students are Chinese. Still small town part of the 5 college consortium. Close to Boston ( about 2 hour drive/200 km). Close to small mountains and the coast. Iowa close to umm… well did I mention millions of acres of corn. I’m not sure about economic programs at each school but both are respectable for State (public) Universities. Hard to call one better than the other overall. If UMass is cheaper it’s a no brainer unless you really like corn.