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  
398 Carrington College-Phoenix 1.14 to 1 0% 100% 68% 68% 20 24% N/A  
398 Davenport University 137.00 to 1 81% 93% 68% 25% 36 10% N/A  
398 Graceland University-Lamoni 1.76 to 1 100% 50% 68% 51% 92 6% N/A  
398 Jacksonville State University 1.97 to 1 45% 84% 68% 32% 77 13% 100%  
398 Mercy College 0.31 to 1 83% 60% 68% 29% 44 8% N/A  
398 Midwestern State University 2.72 to 1 45% 52% 68% 34% 62 10% N/A  
398 Minnesota State University-Moorhead 1.59 to 1 24% 63% 68% 45% 64 5% N/A  
398 Montana Tech of the University of Montana 2.29 to 1 59% 88% 68% 40% 80 7% N/A  
398 North Carolina Central University 2.36 to 1 64% 61% 68% 38% 74 15% N/A  
398 Northern State University 7.75 to 1 65% 94% 68% 37% 94 10% N/A  
398 Shorter University 1.36 to 1 98% 65% 68% 47% 89 12% N/A  
398 Texas A & M International University 32.00 to 1 24% 48% 68% 42% 42 12% N/A  
398 Texas Woman's University 1.09 to 1 34% 88% 68% 39% 89 8% N/A  
398 University of Wisconsin-Superior 2.57 to 1 26% 89% 68% 44% 96 9% N/A  
398 Wayne State College 1.48 to 1 30% N/A 68% 51% 95 9% N/A  
398 Western Oregon University 1.01 to 1 51% 89% 68% 39% 88 5% N/A  
417 Capella University 0.20 to 1 33% 100% 67% 0% 15 10% N/A  
417 Clayton State University 1.44 to 1 5% 39% 67% 26% 41 12% 100%  
417 Full Sail University 169.80 to 1 19% N/A 67% 80% 26 12% N/A  
417 Hampton University 3.39 to 1 28% 37% 67% 55% 80 13% N/A  
417 Hawaii Pacific University 0.68 to 1 62% 71% 67% 39% 39 5% N/A  
417 Hope International University 0.23 to 1 98% 52% 67% 33% 43 9% N/A  
417 Kennebec Valley Community College 0.34 to 1 25% N/A 67% 40% 33 18% N/A  
417 Kentucky Christian University 2.50 to 1 94% 35% 67% 44% 28 14% N/A  
417 King College 1.27 to 1 79% 66% 67% 41% 65 9% N/A  
417 Marylhurst University 0.26 to 1 67% 70% 67% N/A 35 5% N/A  
417 New England Institute of Technology 0.66 to 1 54% N/A 67% 49% 30 6% N/A  
417 Notre Dame College 0.37 to 1 100% 89% 67% 47% 1 8% N/A  
417 Our Lady of Holy Cross College 0.64 to 1 20% 63% 67% N/A 40 6% N/A  
417 Park University 0.15 to 1 49% 76% 67% 39% 99 10% N/A  
417 Pittsburgh Technical Institute 1.72 to 1 42% N/A 67% 54% 10 18% N/A  
417 Presentation College 1.59 to 1 81% 75% 67% 39% 41 11% N/A  
417 Rosemont College 0.24 to 1 97% 54% 67% 58% 82 9% N/A  
417 Tarleton State University 1.08 to 1 25% 63% 67% 39% 86 11% N/A  
417 Tennessee State University 2.35 to 1 32% N/A 67% 36% 66 14% N/A  
417 The National Hispanic University 0.11 to 1 5% 99% 67% 18% 10 14% N/A  
417 Toccoa Falls College 1.74 to 1 97% 50% 67% 50% 55 5% N/A  
417 University of South Carolina-Upstate 1.07 to 1 42% 59% 67% 39% 36 7% N/A  
417 Valdosta State University 3.85 to 1 4% 58% 67% 43% 83 8% N/A  
417 York College 1.28 to 1 95% 84% 67% 43% 42 12% N/A  
441 Brookdale Community College 0.34 to 1 3% N/A 66% 20% 40 17% N/A  
441 Campbellsville University 0.86 to 1 95% 63% 66% 44% 49 10% N/A  
441 Dakota Wesleyan University 1.07 to 1 100% 76% 66% 42% 99 13% N/A  
441 Eastern Kentucky University 1.56 to 1 27% 66% 66% 37% 84 12% 100%  
441 Friends University 0.47 to 1 89% 64% 66% 25% 61 11% N/A  
441 Harford Community College 0.24 to 1 11% N/A 66% 19% 45 15% N/A  
441 Missouri Baptist University 0.35 to 1 97% 58% 66% 28% 34 7% N/A  
441 Monroe College-Main Campus 0.46 to 1 58% 61% 66% 51% 22 9% N/A  
441 Mount Mary College 0.47 to 1 100% 53% 66% 46% 86 6% N/A  
441 Northern Kentucky University 1.36 to 1 36% 66% 66% 37% 39 11% N/A  
441 Oklahoma Wesleyan University 15.50 to 1 98% 58% 66% 48% 34 10% N/A  
441 Pennsylvania College of Technology 2.91 to 1 5% N/A 66% 47% 42 10% N/A  
441 Saint Leo University 0.11 to 1 100% 93% 66% 46% 45 7% N/A  
441 Shorter University-College of Adult & Professional Programs 0.15 to 1 4% N/A 66% 36% N/A 12% N/A  
441 Siena Heights University 0.44 to 1 96% 55% 66% 44% 72 7% N/A  
441 Southeastern University 1.56 to 1 84% N/A 66% 42% 26 11% N/A  
441 Southern Illinois University Carbondale 5.24 to 1 28% 44% 66% 45% 99 8% N/A  
441 Southwestern Assemblies of God University 1.02 to 1 67% 32% 66% 36% 64 14% N/A  
441 University of Southern Maine 1.36 to 1 41% 78% 66% 33% 52 9% N/A  
441 Vance-Granville Community College 0.57 to 1 23% N/A 66% 23% 35 0% N/A  
461 Academy of Art University 0.20 to 1 9% N/A 65% 34% 14 11% N/A  
461 AIB College of Business 0.51 to 1 69% 58% 65% 50% 26 9% N/A  
461 Albany State University 1.28 to 1 7% 55% 65% 41% 61 12% 85%  
461 Armstrong Atlantic State University 1.55 to 1 6% 57% 65% 32% 72 9% N/A  
461 College of DuPage 0.24 to 1 2% N/A 65% 11% 80 20% N/A  
461 College of Marin 0.36 to 1 0% N/A 65% 24% 60 21% N/A  
461 Culver-Stockton College 1.45 to 1 100% 66% 65% 41% 88 13% N/A  
461 Dowling College 0.25 to 1 92% 82% 65% 39% 41 7% N/A  
461 Georgia Southwestern State University 2.02 to 1 30% 68% 65% 30% 80 11% N/A  
461 Judson College 1.80 to 1 96% 74% 65% 38% 87 5% N/A  
461 Lamar University 3.23 to 1 13% 46% 65% 31% 57 15% N/A  
461 Lord Fairfax Community College 0.18 to 1 10% N/A 65% 26% 40 0% N/A  
461 Mid-Continent University 0.32 to 1 8% 95% 65% 24% 25 11% N/A  
461 Ridgewater College 1.17 to 1 0% N/A 65% 37% 16 12% N/A  
461 Roosevelt University 0.51 to 1 91% 74% 65% 46% 66 6% N/A  
461 Stephen F Austin State University 3.16 to 1 47% 63% 65% 44% 85 14% N/A  
461 Suffolk County Community College 0.23 to 1 2% N/A 65% 19% 46 16% N/A  
461 University of South Alabama 2.27 to 1 53% 87% 65% 38% 44 8% N/A  
461 University of Toledo 2.27 to 1 87% N/A 65% 45% 90 10% N/A  
461 West Texas A & M University 1.92 to 1 34% 69% 65% 42% 87 11% N/A  
461 Youngstown State University 0.77 to 1 35% N/A 65% 34% 67 15% N/A  
482 Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus 1.67 to 1 42% 63% 64% 24% 65 18% N/A  
482 Lander University 1.51 to 1 37% 46% 64% 37% 60 4% N/A  
482 Lasell College 0.54 to 1 82% 74% 64% 47% 80 7% N/A  
482 Metropolitan State University 0.25 to 1 0% 97% 64% 29% 0 7% N/A  
482 Minnesota School of Business-Richfield 0.12 to 1 57% N/A 64% 31% 59 17% N/A  
482 Prairie View A & M University 4.85 to 1 23% 40% 64% 34% 78 19% N/A  
482 Rogers State University 0.66 to 1 12% 54% 64% 12% 62 18% N/A  
482 Schreiner University 1.04 to 1 100% 61% 64% 40% 78 12% N/A  
482 Shoreline Community College 0.45 to 1 18% N/A 64% 37% 46 11% N/A  
482 Southside Virginia Community College 0.30 to 1 13% N/A 64% 26% 40 0% N/A  
482 The University of Texas at Tyler 2.30 to 1 44% 46% 64% 40% 38 12% N/A  
482 Utica College 0.67 to 1 95% 78% 64% 44% 66 7% N/A  
494 Arizona Western College 0.35 to 1 14% N/A 63% 16% 44 28% N/A  
494 Belhaven University 0.60 to 1 81% 48% 63% 48% 71 7% N/A  
494 Bucks County Community College 0.40 to 1 11% N/A 63% 11% 44 N/A N/A  
494 Charleston Southern University 1.17 to 1 98% 65% 63% 38% 42 6% N/A  
494 Crown College 0.29 to 1 98% 78% 63% 53% 62 8% N/A  
494 Daniel Webster College 0.21 to 1 1% 66% 63% 43% 40 7% N/A  
494 Fort Hays State University 6.93 to 1 84% 68% 63% 42% 97 7% 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