This report examines the effect of education on occupation, income, social mobility, and teaching as a profession in Iowa from 1870 to 1930. Particular attention is given to the impact of socioeconomic background upon scholastic achievement, length of schooling, and dropout rates. The Iowa state census manuscripts and the federal census provide the data for the study. Findings indicate that during the early 20th century Iowa lost ground, with respect to high educational attainment, to the more industrial states because rural education showed little improvement from the 19th century. Old-stock population with a Protestant religious background showed more interest in education than new immigrants with a Catholic or Lutheran religious background. Overall, household heads were less educated than their spouses due to a demand for women teachers. Family background was an important determinant of staying in school, while the children of farmers continued to drop out like their parents had done. For farmers, education made a minor contribution to intergenerational social and economic mobility, since increasing inheritance of wealth was the key determinant of economic status. In urban Iowa, education had a more positive effect on economic achievement. In conclusion, although modern channels of mobility through education existed throughout this period of transition, the traditional opportunities for mobility through property accumulation remained more attractive to the average Iowan. (Author/DE)