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Highest first-year retention
2,737 colleges in the U.S. with this figure reported (500+ students).
81Uta Mesivta of Kiryas Joel · NY · Private (nonprofit)96%82Vanderbilt University · TN · Private (nonprofit)96%83Washington University in St Louis · MO · Private (nonprofit)96%84Wellesley College · MA · Private (nonprofit)96%85Boston College · MA · Private (nonprofit)95%86Boston University · MA · Private (nonprofit)95%87California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo · CA · Public95%88Colorado College · CO · Private (nonprofit)95%89Davidson College · NC · Private (nonprofit)95%90Dixie Technical College · UT · Public95%91Macalester College · MN · Private (nonprofit)95%92Southwest Technical College · UT · Public95%93University of Georgia · GA · Public95%94University of Washington-Seattle Campus · WA · Public95%95University of Wisconsin-Madison · WI · Public95%96Villanova University · PA · Private (nonprofit)95%97Wake Forest University · NC · Private (nonprofit)95%98Washington and Lee University · VA · Private (nonprofit)95%99Wesleyan University · CT · Private (nonprofit)95%100William & Mary · VA · Public95%101American Public University System · WV · Private (for-profit)94%102Babson College · MA · Private (nonprofit)94%103Bates College · ME · Private (nonprofit)94%104Gonzaga University · WA · Private (nonprofit)94%105Haverford College · PA · Private (nonprofit)94%106Middlebury College · VT · Private (nonprofit)94%107Ohio State University-Main Campus · OH · Public94%108Pitzer College · CA · Private (nonprofit)94%109Santa Clara University · CA · Private (nonprofit)94%110Spelman College · GA · Private (nonprofit)94%111Stevens Institute of Technology · NJ · Private (nonprofit)94%112Texas A&M University-College Station · TX · Public94%113Texas Christian University · TX · Private (nonprofit)94%114The New England Conservatory of Music · MA · Private (nonprofit)94%115Tulane University of Louisiana · LA · Private (nonprofit)94%116University of California-Irvine · CA · Public94%117University of California-San Diego · CA · Public94%118University of Florida-Online · FL · Public94%119University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · IL · Public94%120Vassar College · NY · Private (nonprofit)94%
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.