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Highest first-year retention
2,737 colleges in the U.S. with this figure reported (500+ students).
2001Grand Rapids Community College · MI · Public63%2002Greensboro College · NC · Private (nonprofit)63%2003Guilford Technical Community College · NC · Public63%2004Hilbert College · NY · Private (nonprofit)63%2005Holyoke Community College · MA · Public63%2006Hudson County Community College · NJ · Public63%2007Indiana University-East · IN · Public63%2008Iowa Western Community College · IA · Public63%2009Jersey College · NJ · Private (for-profit)63%2010Johnson C Smith University · NC · Private (nonprofit)63%2011Lamar State College-Port Arthur · TX · Public63%2012Life University · GA · Private (nonprofit)63%2013Lindsey Wilson University · KY · Private (nonprofit)63%2014Louisiana State University-Shreveport · LA · Public63%2015Massachusetts Bay Community College · MA · Public63%2016Merced College · CA · Public63%2017Midwestern State University · TX · Public63%2018Minnesota North College · MN · Public63%2019Mitchell Community College · NC · Public63%2020Montgomery Community College · NC · Public63%2021Mount Wachusett Community College · MA · Public63%2022Northeastern State University · OK · Public63%2023Northern Essex Community College · MA · Public63%2024Northwest Shoals Community College · AL · Public63%2025Ohio University-Southern Campus · OH · Public63%2026Orange County Community College · NY · Public63%2027Pacific Northwest College of Art · OR · Private (nonprofit)63%2028Peru State College · NE · Public63%2029Pierpont Community and Technical College · WV · Public63%2030Portland Community College · OR · Public63%2031Quinsigamond Community College · MA · Public63%2032San Jose City College · CA · Public63%2033Seminole State College · OK · Public63%2034Southern Careers Institute-San Antonio · TX · Private (for-profit)63%2035South Mountain Community College · AZ · Public63%2036Spartanburg Community College · SC · Public63%2037St Charles Community College · MO · Public63%2038St Philip's College · TX · Public63%2039Texas A&M University-San Antonio · TX · Public63%2040Texas Wesleyan University · TX · Private (nonprofit)63%
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.