Schools Ranked by Retention Rate

A college’s retention rate reflects the student body’s overall interest in the college. This figure can explain many factors that compose the attractiveness of a college, including the quality of its teaching staff, the relevance of the curriculum, and the perceived value of what is being taught. The retention rate figures are provided by the College Navigator database, offered by the U.S. Department of Education. College Navigator defines retention rate as the percentage of first-time bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree-seeking undergraduates from fall 2010 who enrolled again in fall 2011.

College Navigator did not have retention rate figures for all of the colleges on our list. We did not, however, want to penalize those colleges without data. To that end, we simply excluded those schools from the rankings in this category.

Rank School FT to PT
Faculty Ratio		 Institution
Fin. Aid Rate		 Acceptance Rate Retention Rate Graduation Rate Accred.
Years		 Default
Rate		 Job Place. Rate  
1 Beckfield College-Florence 0.16 to 1 15% N/A 100% 48% 19 23% N/A  
1 Eagle Gate College 0.24 to 1 10% N/A 100% 61% 8 24% N/A  
1 Methodist College of Nursing 3.00 to 1 9% 89% 100% N/A 4 13% N/A  
1 National Paralegal College 1.71 to 1 0% N/A 100% 54% 6 N/A N/A  
1 New England College of Business and Finance 0.09 to 1 50% N/A 100% N/A 6 0% N/A  
1 Pacific States University 0.29 to 1 N/A N/A 100% 67% 16 33% N/A  
7 Duke University 43.36 to 1 47% 16% 97% 94% 117 1% N/A  
7 University of California-Los Angeles 3.81 to 1 58% 26% 97% 90% 63 3% N/A  
7 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 6.25 to 1 46% 34% 97% 89% 112 1% N/A  
7 University of Southern California 1.96 to 1 61% 23% 97% 90% 63 3% N/A  
11 Georgetown University 1.66 to 1 49% 20% 96% 94% 91 1% N/A  
11 Johns Hopkins University 12.45 to 1 51% 19% 96% 91% 91 1% N/A  
11 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 4.36 to 1 47% 41% 96% 90% 99 2% N/A  
14 Northeastern University 0.91 to 1 80% 35% 95% 77% 72 4% N/A  
14 University of Florida 5.01 to 1 32% 43% 95% 84% 99 3% N/A  
14 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 3.00 to 1 98% 57% 95% 76% 75 3% N/A  
17 George Washington University 0.89 to 1 71% 32% 94% 81% 90 2% N/A  
17 University of Georgia 4.84 to 1 20% 59% 94% 84% 103 3% N/A  
17 University of Wisconsin-Madison 3.13 to 1 40% 66% 94% 82% 99 1% N/A  
20 Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences 0.32 to 1 8% 96% 93% 28% 16 4% N/A  
20 Pepperdine University 1.25 to 1 71% 32% 93% 81% 63 2% N/A  
20 Stevens Institute of Technology 1.65 to 1 95% 42% 93% 79% 85 4% N/A  
20 University of Delaware 27.59 to 1 36% 61% 93% 76% 91 3% N/A  
20 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2.30 to 1 40% 68% 93% 82% 99 3% N/A  
25 Florida State University 2.54 to 1 36% 58% 92% 74% 97 5% N/A  
25 Marist College 0.66 to 1 75% 34% 92% 80% 48 2% N/A  
25 Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health 4.00 to 1 79% 34% 92% 78% 23 4% N/A  
25 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus 6.95 to 1 29% 55% 92% 87% 91 6% N/A  
25 Texas A & M University 22.71 to 1 52% 63% 92% 81% 88 5% N/A  
30 Michigan State University 6.69 to 1 39% 73% 91% 77% 97 4% 96%  
30 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 6.98 to 1 38% 67% 91% 82% 89 2% N/A  
32 Purdue University-Main Campus 6.26 to 1 43% 68% 90% 68% 99 3% N/A  
32 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 3.39 to 1 59% 47% 90% 70% 99 3% N/A  
32 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus 5.88 to 1 32% 58% 90% 79% 91 4% N/A  
35 Auburn University 6.50 to 1 62% 70% 89% 66% 90 7% N/A  
35 Hesser College 0.12 to 1 8% N/A 89% 4% 27 17% N/A  
35 Illinois Institute of Technology 1.43 to 1 100% 64% 89% 64% 76 5% N/A  
35 North Carolina State University at Raleigh 5.12 to 1 45% 54% 89% 72% 84 3% N/A  
35 Pima Medical Institute 1.20 to 1 0% N/A 89% N/A 3 14% N/A  
35 Saint Joseph's University 0.69 to 1 93% 78% 89% 76% 90 4% N/A  
35 Southern Methodist University 1.79 to 1 77% 55% 89% 75% 91 6% N/A  
35 University of Denver 1.04 to 1 83% 68% 89% 78% 98 4% N/A  
35 University of Massachusetts Amherst 4.74 to 1 57% 66% 89% 67% 80 4% N/A  
44 Endicott College 0.49 to 1 85% 59% 88% 67% 60 3% N/A  
44 Iowa State University 5.89 to 1 72% 81% 88% 68% 96 4% N/A  
44 University at Buffalo 2.22 to 1 36% 51% 88% 71% 91 4% N/A  
44 University of Scranton 1.75 to 1 91% 72% 88% 77% 85 3% N/A  
44 University of South Florida-Main Campus 7.26 to 1 53% 38% 88% 52% 47 10% N/A  
49 Duquesne University 0.97 to 1 100% 70% 87% 76% 77 2% N/A  
49 George Mason University 1.23 to 1 17% 53% 87% 64% 40 3% N/A  
49 Quinnipiac University 0.60 to 1 84% 63% 87% 77% 54 2% N/A  
49 Rowan University 0.59 to 1 34% 56% 87% 68% 54 6% N/A  
49 Saint Joseph's College-New York 0.37 to 1 89% 76% 87% 65% 84 6% N/A  
49 Temple University 1.29 to 1 67% 63% 87% 68% 91 6% N/A  
49 University of Central Florida 1.82 to 1 36% 45% 87% 63% 42 8% N/A  
49 University of South Carolina-Columbia 2.62 to 1 58% 70% 87% 70% 95 3% N/A  
49 University of Utah 5.73 to 1 35% 83% 87% 55% 79 3% N/A  
58 Biola University 1.24 to 1 94% 77% 86% 71% 51 3% N/A  
58 Columbia Southern University 0.15 to 1 20% N/A 86% 39% 11 9% N/A  
58 Denver School of Nursing 0.24 to 1 0% 70% 86% N/A 4 0% N/A  
58 DePaul University 1.00 to 1 88% 64% 86% 66% 87 4% 81%  
58 Misericordia University 0.53 to 1 99% 57% 86% 64% 77 5% N/A  
58 Mount Carmel College of Nursing 1.29 to 1 42% 75% 86% 66% 18 4% N/A  
58 The University of Alabama 2.75 to 1 46% 44% 86% 66% 115 6% N/A  
58 University of Dayton 2.37 to 1 98% 75% 86% 74% 84 2% N/A  
58 University of La Verne 0.51 to 1 95% 59% 86% 58% 57 5% N/A  
58 University of North Carolina-Wilmington 2.69 to 1 37% 57% 86% 67% 60 5% N/A  
58 West Chester University of Pennsylvania 2.21 to 1 12% 47% 86% 68% 66 4% N/A  
69 Bethel College-Mishawaka 0.75 to 1 97% 69% 85% 51% 41 9% N/A  
69 California Lutheran University 0.77 to 1 97% 44% 85% 64% 50 3% N/A  
69 Cedarville University 2.21 to 1 77% 75% 85% 68% 37 2% N/A  
69 National University 0.09 to 1 2% N/A 85% 38% 11 7% N/A  
69 Ramapo College of New Jersey 0.88 to 1 31% 50% 85% 72% 37 5% N/A  
69 Saint Louis University-Main Campus 2.13 to 1 85% 62% 85% 61% 96 4% N/A  
69 Seattle Pacific University 1.25 to 1 96% 70% 85% 74% 79 2% 90%  
69 Taylor University 1.22 to 1 91% 84% 85% 80% 65 5% N/A  
69 University of Missouri-Columbia 2.36 to 1 59% 81% 85% 69% 99 4% N/A  
69 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 4.24 to 1 16% 78% 85% 68% 84 2% N/A  
79 Anamarc College-El Paso 0.32 to 1 0% N/A 84% 84% 9 29% 90%  
79 Arizona State University 10.33 to 1 79% 87% 84% 57% 81 6% N/A  
79 Franciscan University of Steubenville 1.16 to 1 86% 76% 84% 71% 52 2% N/A  
79 Keiser University-Ft. Lauderdale 1.44 to 1 46% 89% 84% 57% 21 20% N/A  
79 The University of Tennessee 4.33 to 1 67% 70% 84% 63% 12 8% N/A  
79 Towson University 1.01 to 1 37% 54% 84% 64% 63 3% N/A  
79 University of Colorado Boulder 2.42 to 1 37% 87% 84% 68% 99 4% N/A  
79 University of Nebraska-Lincoln 3.87 to 1 57% 59% 84% 67% 99 4% N/A  
79 University of San Francisco 0.73 to 1 67% 58% 84% 70% 63 4% N/A  
79 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 4.17 to 1 37% 76% 84% 65% 62 2% N/A  
79 Washington State University 5.80 to 1 58% 84% 84% 67% 94 6% N/A  
90 Augustana College 2.50 to 1 100% 80% 83% 65% 81 4% N/A  
90 City University of Seattle 0.05 to 1 0% N/A 83% 13% 34 6% N/A  
90 Colorado State University-Fort Collins 2.78 to 1 42% 76% 83% 64% 87 3% N/A  
90 Georgia College & State University 3.35 to 1 10% 70% 83% 55% 87 6% N/A  
90 Howard University 3.81 to 1 53% 54% 83% 63% 91 7% N/A  
90 Michigan Technological University 4.41 to 1 92% 74% 83% 65% 84 3% N/A  
90 Mississippi State University 7.52 to 1 66% 63% 83% 60% 86 7% N/A  
90 The University of Texas at Dallas 2.96 to 1 73% 53% 83% 61% 40 8% N/A  
90 University of Arkansas 10.63 to 1 36% 61% 83% 59% 88 7% N/A  
90 University of the Sciences 1.80 to 1 100% 64% 83% 65% 50 2% N/A  
100 Columbia International University 4.88 to 1 90% 67% 82% 58% 64 3% N/A  

Methodology

For each college, we gathered data for nine different metrics: the number of full-time faculty per part-time faculty member; institutional financial aid, acceptance, retention, graduation, job placement, and default rates; years accredited; and undergraduate tuition. Learn more