Highest completion (all students) – U.S. universities

These 50 U.S. universities rank highest by the 8-year completion rate for all entering undergraduates, drawn from 2,120 institutions with reported data in the U.S. Department of Education data for 2024-25 (Scorecard). Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) leads at 98.6%.

Institutions ranked by Completion rate (all students · 8-yr).
#	Institution	Completion rate (all students · 8-yr)
1	Harvard UniversityMA · Private	98.6%
2	Yale UniversityCT · Private	98.4%
3	Princeton UniversityNJ · Private	97.9%
4	University of PennsylvaniaPA · Private	97.2%
5	Northwestern UniversityIL · Private	97.1%
6	Duke UniversityNC · Private	97%
7	Stanford UniversityCA · Private	96.9%
8	University of Notre DameIN · Private	96.5%
9	United States Naval AcademyMD · Public	96.3%
10	University of ChicagoIL · Private	96.2%
11	Williams CollegeMA · Private	96.1%
12	Brown UniversityRI · Private	96%
13	Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMA · Private	95.9%
14	Cornell UniversityNY · Private	95.7%
15	Pomona CollegeCA · Private	95.5%
16	Dartmouth CollegeNH · Private	95.2%
17	Georgetown UniversityDC · Private	95%
18	Washington and Lee UniversityVA · Private	94.9%
19	University of Virginia-Main CampusVA · Public	94.7%
20	University of California-BerkeleyCA · Public	94.5%
21	University of Puerto RicoPR · Public	94.4%
22	Swarthmore CollegePA · Private	94.3%
23	Bowdoin CollegeME · Private	94.3%
24	Tufts UniversityMA · Private	94.2%
25	Rice UniversityTX · Private	94.1%
26	Johns Hopkins UniversityMD · Private	93.7%
27	University of California-Los AngelesCA · Public	93.6%
28	Columbia University in the City of New YorkNY · Private	93.6%
29	Middlebury CollegeVT · Private	93.4%
30	University of Michigan-Ann ArborMI · Public	93.4%
31	Wesleyan UniversityCT · Private	93.4%
32	University of Southern CaliforniaCA · Private	93.3%
33	Vanderbilt UniversityTN · Private	93.1%
34	Washington University in St LouisMO · Private	93%
35	Barnard CollegeNY · Private	92.9%
36	Bates CollegeME · Private	92.8%
37	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusGA · Public	92.7%
38	Vassar CollegeNY · Private	92.7%
39	Emory UniversityGA · Private	92.6%
40	Amherst CollegeMA · Private	92.6%
41	Babson CollegeMA · Private	92.5%
42	University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences CenterOK · Public	92.5%
43	Rhode Island School of DesignRI · Private	92.2%
44	Hamilton CollegeNY · Private	92.1%
45	Colgate UniversityNY · Private	91.6%
46	Haverford CollegePA · Private	91.6%
47	Lehigh UniversityPA · Private	91.5%
48	Northeastern UniversityMA · Private	91.4%
49	University of North Carolina at Chapel HillNC · Public	91.4%
50	William & MaryVA · Public	91.4%

A data ranking, not an Ibex endorsement or quality rating. Ranked solely on the metric named above using U.S. Department of Education data for 2024-25 (Scorecard); federal collections lag the current academic year, and some measures are no longer published at all, so the most recent figure is not always a recent one. Institutions that do not report this metric are excluded. Figures and peer context appear on each institution’s profile.

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Frequently asked

Which of these U.S. universities ranks highest by the 8-year completion rate for all entering undergraduates?

Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), at 98.6%. It leads 50 institutions shown here, drawn from 2,120 with reported data.

How is this ranking calculated?

On one disclosed metric only: by the 8-year completion rate for all entering undergraduates, from College Scorecard & IPEDS, 2024-25 (Scorecard). Institutions that do not report the metric are excluded. It is a data ranking, not an Ibex endorsement, quality rating or reputation survey, and no part of it is estimated or AI-generated.

How current is the data?

This list is built from the College Scorecard release of June 10, 2026 and the newest IPEDS collection on disk, using the most recent figure each of them publishes for the metric it ranks: College Scorecard & IPEDS, 2024-25 (Scorecard). Federal collections lag the current academic year by two to three years, so the newest published figure is not always a recent one; the release the leaderboard is dated on is printed under it.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard & IPEDS (each measure carries its own collection year; see the methodology), with NSF NCSES (HERD), the Clery Act & EADA collections, Census ACS, BLS Employment Projections, WICHE & the FSA Direct Loan Dashboard. Compiled by Ibex Insights. For informational benchmarking only, not financial, investment, or accreditation advice. See the methodology.