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  
701 Arlington Baptist College 1.18 to 1 31% N/A 46% 41% 31 14% N/A  
701 South Georgia College 0.81 to 1 8% N/A 46% 13% 78 23% N/A  
701 Southwest Tennessee Community College 0.43 to 1 7% 100% 46% 5% 12 0% N/A  
701 The University of Texas at Brownsville 1.48 to 1 88% N/A 46% 19% 17 16% N/A  
705 Chancellor University 0.23 to 1 19% 100% 45% 4% 34 11% N/A  
705 Community College of Vermont 0.00 to 1 11% N/A 45% 12% 37 15% N/A  
707 Goodwin College 0.28 to 1 74% N/A 44% 45% 29 6% N/A  
707 Lenoir Community College 0.38 to 1 9% N/A 44% 15% 44 3% N/A  
707 Missouri State University-West Plains 0.42 to 1 38% N/A 44% 32% 18 21% N/A  
707 Rasmussen College-Minnesota 0.17 to 1 100% 71% 44% 39% 33 14% N/A  
707 Southeastern Illinois College 0.71 to 1 30% N/A 44% 36% 36 25% N/A  
712 Everest College-Phoenix 0.79 to 1 0% N/A 43% 41% 15 30% N/A  
712 Metropolitan Community College Area 0.29 to 1 15% N/A 43% 13% 33 18% N/A  
712 Oakland City University 0.22 to 1 96% 69% 43% 59% 35 7% N/A  
712 Salem International University 0.71 to 1 31% N/A 43% 14% 49 22% N/A  
716 Ashford University-Iowa 0.02 to 1 10% 90% 42% 22% 62 20% N/A  
716 Central Pennsylvania College 0.27 to 1 34% 43% 42% 46% 35 10% N/A  
716 College America-Denver 0.35 to 1 13% N/A 42% 29% 28 39% N/A  
719 Dakota College at Bottineau 0.47 to 1 36% N/A 41% 37% 41 8% N/A  
719 International Academy of Design and Technology-Online 0.04 to 1 6% N/A 41% N/A N/A 27% N/A  
719 San Joaquin Valley College-Online 0.48 to 1 0% N/A 41% 39% N/A 18% N/A  
719 Spencerian College 0.86 to 1 14% N/A 41% 50% 58 27% N/A  
719 Tri-County Technical College 0.41 to 1 4% N/A 41% 9% 41 16% N/A  
724 University of Maryland-University College 0.10 to 1 8% N/A 40% 12% 66 6% N/A  
725 Northwestern College-Southwestern Campus to 1 N/A 95% 39% 36% 9 21% N/A  
726 Globe University-Minneapolis 0.30 to 1 20% N/A 38% N/A 4 13% N/A  
726 Grantham University to 1 98% N/A 38% 33% 51 N/A N/A  
726 Stevens Henager College 0.21 to 1 56% N/A 38% 33% 8 N/A N/A  
729 Rio Salado College 0.03 to 1 1% N/A 37% 27% 31 23% N/A  
729 Waldorf College 15.67 to 1 100% 49% 37% 45% 64 7% 87%  
731 Cleary University 0.05 to 1 36% N/A 36% 64% 24 7% N/A  
731 Southwest Florida College 0.28 to 1 10% N/A 36% 32% 28 21% N/A  
731 University of Phoenix-Online Campus 0.01 to 1 5% N/A 36% 17% 13 26% N/A  
734 Clovis Community College 0.31 to 1 3% N/A 34% 4% 25 18% N/A  
735 Tennessee Temple University 5.00 to 1 60% 25% 33% 27% 12 22% N/A  
736 Brookline College 1.12 to 1 1% N/A 32% 65% 30 14% N/A  
736 Franklin University 0.09 to 1 4% N/A 32% 19% 36 10% N/A  
736 Northwestern College 0.47 to 1 47% 94% 32% 23% 15 21% N/A  
739 Bacone College 0.27 to 1 79% 52% 31% 14% 47 30% N/A  
740 Traviss Career Center 4.00 to 1 21% N/A 30% 66% 34 N/A N/A  
741 Anthem College-Phoenix 0.08 to 1 1% N/A 29% 37% 3 9% N/A  
741 National American University-Rapid City 0.02 to 1 13% N/A 29% 28% 27 23% N/A  
741 Westwood College-Los Angeles 0.06 to 1 20% 47% 29% 16% 21 23% N/A  
744 ITT Technical Institute-Indianapolis 0.08 to 1 1% 89% 28% 16% 13 34% N/A  
744 Walden University 0.06 to 1 6% N/A 28% N/A 22 4% N/A  
746 Antonelli College- Cincinnati 0.28 to 1 0% N/A 26% 48% 37 35% 100%  
746 LA College International 0.08 to 1 1% N/A 26% 44% 9 22% N/A  
748 Akron Institute of Herzing University 1.22 to 1 8% 100% 20% 60% 10 13% N/A  
748 Colorado Technical University Online 0.01 to 1 9% N/A 20% 10% N/A 25% N/A  
748 M-DCPS The English Center 0.17 to 1 0% N/A 20% 50% 8 N/A N/A  
748 Patten University 0.35 to 1 96% N/A 20% 19% 32 23% N/A  
752 Trident University International 0.17 to 1 0% N/A 19% 72% 7 3% N/A  
753 South University‚Savannah Online 0.09 to 1 5% 68% 18% 8% N/A N/A N/A  
754 Schiller International University 0.36 to 1 0% N/A 17% 40% 29 8% N/A  
755 Jones International University 0.09 to 1 0% N/A 15% 67% 13 8% N/A  
756 American InterContinental University-Online 0.04 to 1 38% 98% 14% 28% 3 27% N/A  
757 Independence University 0.68 to 1 0% N/A 12% 26% N/A N/A N/A  
758 Harrison College-Indianapolis 0.25 to 1 9% 96% 7% 26% 32 14% N/A  
759 Clatsop Community College 0.41 to 1 39% N/A 6% 12% 47 23% 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