Home / Rankings / Highest first-year retention / Tennessee
Highest first-year retention in Tennessee
72 colleges in Tennessee with this figure reported (500+ students).
1Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Upper Cumberland · TN · Public96%2Vanderbilt University · TN · Private (nonprofit)96%3Rhodes College · TN · Private (nonprofit)91%4The University of Tennessee-Knoxville · TN · Public91%5Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Shelbyville · TN · Public90%6Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Hartsville · TN · Public89%7Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Morristown · TN · Public89%8The University of the South · TN · Private (nonprofit)88%9Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Hohenwald · TN · Public87%10Union University · TN · Private (nonprofit)87%11Lipscomb University · TN · Private (nonprofit)86%12Belmont University · TN · Private (nonprofit)84%13Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Pulaski · TN · Public83%14Southern Adventist University · TN · Private (nonprofit)82%15Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Jackson · TN · Public82%16Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Murfreesboro · TN · Public82%17Freed-Hardeman University · TN · Private (nonprofit)81%18Lee University · TN · Private (nonprofit)81%19Nashville Auto-Diesel College · TN · Private (for-profit)80%20Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton · TN · Public80%21Tennessee College of Applied Technology-McMinnville · TN · Public80%22Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville · TN · Public80%23Milligan University · TN · Private (nonprofit)79%24Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Harriman · TN · Public79%25Middle Tennessee State University · TN · Public78%26Tennessee Technological University · TN · Public77%27Tennessee College of Applied Technology Crump · TN · Public76%28Trevecca Nazarene University · TN · Private (nonprofit)75%29Carson-Newman University · TN · Private (nonprofit)74%30East Tennessee State University · TN · Public74%31Johnson University · TN · Private (nonprofit)74%32Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Knoxville · TN · Public74%33The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga · TN · Public74%34Christian Brothers University · TN · Private (nonprofit)73%35Fisk University · TN · Private (nonprofit)73%36Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Livingston · TN · Public73%37The University of Tennessee-Martin · TN · Public73%38Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Dickson · TN · Public71%39University of Memphis · TN · Public71%40Lincoln Memorial University · TN · Private (nonprofit)69%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS (latest survey year). Sorted only by highest first-year retention — this is not an overall quality ranking. Open-admission colleges do not report an admit rate and are not listed here.