The college with the highest first-year retention rate in every state

October 5, 2026 · Business Insider

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a first-year retention rate of 99%.

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a reputation for producing famous tech dropouts.
But in reality, 99% of first-year students return — the highest rate in Massachusetts.
Here is the college with the highest first-year retention rate in every state.

Getting a student to choose a college is one thing. Getting them to come back for another year is just as important.

Ranging from Ivy League universities to military academies, Business Insider calculated the college with the highest retention rate in each state.

The first-year retention rate shows the proportion of students who return to their studies in the fall for their sophomore year. It's a metric colleges care about because it can indicate higher student satisfaction and strong academic support.

Business Insider compiled each state's winner using provisional fall 2024 data from the Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

The retention rate covers full-time, first-time bachelor-seeking students who entered in fall 2023 and measures whether they returned for fall 2024.

The cohort size is adjusted to account for any permitted exclusions, such as a student's death.

Business Insider also limited the data to degree-granting institutions only and set a minimum cohort size of 100 to avoid very small cohorts inflating retention rates.

Because the data is provisional, the figures could be revised and should not be considered final counts.

Here are the colleges with the highest retention rate in every state.

ALABAMA: Auburn UniversityAuburn University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 5,915

Retention rate: 95%

ALASKA: University of Alaska FairbanksUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 451

Retention rate: 74%

ARIZONA: Arizona State University (Campus Immersion)

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 13,867

Retention rate: 87%

ARKANSAS: University of Arkansas

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 6,289

Retention rate: 86%

CALIFORNIA: Claremont McKenna College

Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Adjusted first-year cohort: 321

Retention rate: 98%

COLORADO: United States Air Force Academy

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,101

Retention rate: 97%

CONNECTICUT: United States Coast Guard AcademyCadet Memorial Field at the United States Coast Guard Academy.

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 287

Retention rate: 99%

DELAWARE: University of DelawareDuPont Hall on the campus of the University of Delaware in Newark houses the schools construction and civil engineering department

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 4,190

Retention rate: 92%

FLORIDA: University of FloridaThe UF Archway known as the UF Arch on Friday, May 3, 2024 at the Heavener Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 6,726

Retention rate: 98%

GEORGIA: Georgia Institute of Technology (Main Campus)

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 3,751

Retention rate: 98%

HAWAII: University of Hawaii at Mānoa

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 2,868

Retention rate: 81%

IDAHO: The College of IdahoThe College of Idaho is located in Caldwell, Idaho.

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 292

Retention rate: 82%

ILLINOIS: University of Chicago

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,618

Retention rate: 99%

INDIANA: University of Notre Dame

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 2,074

Retention rate: 99%

IOWA: Grinnell College

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 457

Retention rate: 93%

KANSAS: University of KansasBudig Hall and Hoch Auditorium at the University of Kansas.

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 5,159

Retention rate: 86%

KENTUCKY: Centre College

Courtesy of Centre College

Adjusted first-year cohort: 360

Retention rate: 88%

LOUISIANA: Tulane University of Louisiana

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,866

Retention rate: 93%

MAINE: Bowdoin College

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 504

Retention rate: 97%

MARYLAND: Johns Hopkins University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,413

Retention rate: 98%

MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,090

Retention rate: 99%

MICHIGAN: Hillsdale College

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 349

Retention rate: 97%

MINNESOTA: Carleton College

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 538

Retention rate: 96%

MISSISSIPPI: University of MississippiLyceum Building at Ole Miss, showing pathway and gardens

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 5,185

Retention rate: 87%

MISSOURI: Washington University in St. Louis

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,823

Retention rate: 95%

MONTANA: Carroll College

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 273

Retention rate: 82%

NEBRASKA: Creighton University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,043

Retention rate: 94%

NEVADA: University of Nevada-Reno

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 3,388

Retention rate: 80%

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Dartmouth College

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,206

Retention rate: 98%

NEW JERSEY: Princeton University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,332

Retention rate: 98%

NEW MEXICO: New Mexico Institute of Mining and TechnologyNew Mexico Tech is located in Socorro, New Mexico.

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 222

Retention rate: 77%

NEW YORK: Columbia University in the City of New York

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,498

Retention rate: 98%

NORTH CAROLINA: Duke University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,741

Retention rate: 98%

NORTH DAKOTA: University of Mary

Courtesy of Mike McCleary, University of Mary

Adjusted first-year cohort: 559

Retention rate: 84%

OHIO: Ohio State University (Main Campus)

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 8,028

Retention rate: 94%

OKLAHOMA: University of Tulsa

Courtesy of University of Tulsa

Adjusted first-year cohort: 558

Retention rate: 92%

OREGON: Lewis & Clark College

Courtesy of Lewis & Clarke College

Adjusted first-year cohort: 536

Retention rate: 89%

PENNSYLVANIA: University of Pennsylvania

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 2,415

Retention rate: 99%

RHODE ISLAND: Brown University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,692

Retention rate: 99%

SOUTH CAROLINA: Clemson University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 4,488

Retention rate: 93%

SOUTH DAKOTA: Augustana UniversityAugustana University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 454

Retention rate: 86%

TENNESSEE: Vanderbilt University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,612

Retention rate: 96%

TEXAS: Rice University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,118

Retention rate: 97%

UTAH: Brigham Young University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 3,367

Retention rate: 91%

VERMONT: Middlebury College

Courtesy of Middlebury College

Adjusted first-year cohort: 615

Retention rate: 94%

VIRGINIA: University of Virginia (Main Campus)

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 3,965

Retention rate: 98%

WASHINGTON: University of Washington (Seattle campus)

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 6,928

Retention rate: 95%

WEST VIRGINIA: West Virginia University

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 4,370

Retention rate: 83%

WISCONSIN: University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 7,937

Retention rate: 96%

WYOMING: University of Wyoming

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Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,422

Retention rate: 80%

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