Highest first-year retention – U.S. universities

These 50 U.S. universities rank highest by full-time first-year retention, drawn from 1,276 institutions with reported data in the U.S. Department of Education data for 2024-25 (Scorecard). Career Networks Institute (Santa Ana, CA) leads at 100%.

Institutions ranked by First-year retention.
#	Institution	First-year retention
1	Career Networks InstituteCA · Private for-profit	100%
2	West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange CountyCA · Private for-profit	100%
3	University of ChicagoIL · Private	99.3%
4	Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMA · Private	99.1%
5	University of Notre DameIN · Private	99.1%
6	University of PennsylvaniaPA · Private	98.9%
7	Brown UniversityRI · Private	98.8%
8	Yale UniversityCT · Private	98.8%
9	United States Coast Guard AcademyCT · Public	98.6%
10	Dartmouth CollegeNH · Private	98.4%
11	Cornell UniversityNY · Private	98.4%
12	Princeton UniversityNJ · Private	98.4%
13	Harvard UniversityMA · Private	98.3%
14	Stanford UniversityCA · Private	98.2%
15	Claremont McKenna CollegeCA · Private	98.1%
16	Northwestern UniversityIL · Private	98.1%
17	Johns Hopkins UniversityMD · Private	98.1%
18	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusGA · Public	98.1%
19	Carnegie Mellon UniversityPA · Private	98%
20	Columbia University in the City of New YorkNY · Private	98%
21	Duke UniversityNC · Private	97.9%
22	University of FloridaFL · Public	97.7%
23	Pomona CollegeCA · Private	97.5%
24	University of Virginia-Main CampusVA · Public	97.5%
25	University of Michigan-Ann ArborMI · Public	97.5%
26	Rice UniversityTX · Private	97.4%
27	Amherst CollegeMA · Private	97.3%
28	United States Naval AcademyMD · Public	97.3%
29	University of California-Los AngelesCA · Public	97.3%
30	American Public University SystemWV · Private for-profit	97.1%
31	Northeastern UniversityMA · Private	96.9%
32	Williams CollegeMA · Private	96.9%
33	Bowdoin CollegeME · Private	96.8%
34	University of California-BerkeleyCA · Public	96.8%
35	Georgetown UniversityDC · Private	96.8%
36	The University of Texas at AustinTX · Public	96.7%
37	University of North Carolina at Chapel HillNC · Public	96.6%
38	Washington and Lee UniversityVA · Private	96.6%
39	Barnard CollegeNY · Private	96.6%
40	Hillsdale CollegeMI · Private	96.6%
41	United States Air Force AcademyCO · Public	96.5%
42	Wellesley CollegeMA · Private	96.5%
43	Carleton CollegeMN · Private	96.5%
44	Vanderbilt UniversityTN · Private	96.3%
45	University of Maryland-College ParkMD · Public	96.2%
46	University of Wisconsin-MadisonWI · Public	96.2%
47	Florida State UniversityFL · Public	96%
48	Boston CollegeMA · Private	96%
49	University of Southern CaliforniaCA · Private	95.9%
50	Yeshivath ViznitzNY · Private	95.9%

Limited to institutions with at least 1,000 undergraduates, so a handful of students cannot top the list. 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 full-time first-year retention?

Career Networks Institute (Santa Ana, CA), at 100%. It leads 50 institutions shown here, drawn from 1,276 with reported data.

How is this ranking calculated?

On one disclosed metric only: by full-time first-year retention, from College Scorecard, 2024-25. 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 collections the tool uses, taking the most recent figure published for the metric it ranks: College Scorecard, 2024-25. 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.