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Digest of Education Statistics
2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 326.30. Retention of first-time degree-seeking undergraduates at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by attendance status, level and control of institution, and percentage of applications accepted: 2006 to 2012
Level, control, and percent of applications accepted First-time degree-seekers (adjusted entry cohort),1 by entry year Students from adjusted cohort returning in the following year Percent of first-time undergraduates retained
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2006 to 2007 2007 to 2008 2008 to 2009 2009 to 2010 2010 to 2011 2011 to 2012
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
  Full-time student retention
All institutions 2,171,714 2,269,712 2,296,305 2,386,597 2,341,321 2,270,919 1,542,175 1,619,269 1,647,198 1,714,013 1,679,620 1,630,899 71.0 71.3 71.7 71.8 71.7 71.8
Public institutions 1,524,044 1,603,819 1,654,779 1,743,668 1,698,663 1,665,771 1,072,644 1,132,790 1,167,180 1,229,276 1,192,769 1,170,408 70.4 70.6 70.5 70.5 70.2 70.3
Nonprofit institutions 466,139 477,369 476,153 478,708 487,864 484,498 369,084 375,721 378,111 381,423 389,217 386,716 79.2 78.7 79.4 79.7 79.8 79.8
For-profit institutions 181,531 188,524 165,373 164,221 154,794 120,650 100,447 110,758 101,907 103,314 97,634 73,775 55.3 58.8 61.6 62.9 63.1 61.1
                                     
4-year institutions 1,458,731 1,505,161 1,511,976 1,465,669 1,461,703 1,472,550 1,115,529 1,152,921 1,176,973 1,153,975 1,152,644 1,160,025 76.5 76.6 77.8 78.7 78.9 78.8
                                     
Public institutions 912,401 936,000 973,089 945,951 941,098 958,009 711,490 732,384 765,163 751,623 746,633 758,805 78.0 78.2 78.6 79.5 79.3 79.2
Open admissions 62,724 60,815 81,559 47,943 43,261 41,327 38,839 38,724 52,988 30,079 26,633 25,148 61.9 63.7 65.0 62.7 61.6 60.9
90 percent or more accepted 68,835 66,114 58,002 60,147 74,731 49,819 49,274 46,731 39,851 43,654 54,244 35,005 71.6 70.7 68.7 72.6 72.6 70.3
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 244,177 237,913 213,388 213,441 205,404 230,328 185,457 180,287 164,559 164,061 158,677 176,676 76.0 75.8 77.1 76.9 77.3 76.7
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 417,093 439,824 473,007 468,817 469,055 450,981 336,199 356,969 382,451 380,473 379,448 363,114 80.6 81.2 80.9 81.2 80.9 80.5
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 103,118 107,824 127,960 134,042 131,782 170,541 88,908 90,123 108,601 114,477 112,006 145,617 86.2 83.6 84.9 85.4 85.0 85.4
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 7,716 10,223 13,479 14,326 13,996 9,468 7,048 9,479 12,785 13,649 13,302 9,013 91.3 92.7 94.9 95.3 95.0 95.2
Information not available 8,738 13,287 5,694 7,235 2,869 5,545 5,765 10,071 3,928 5,230 2,323 4,232 66.0 75.8 69.0 72.3 81.0 76.3
                                     
Nonprofit institutions 457,566 468,955 468,220 470,748 476,912 473,800 363,760 370,740 373,352 376,726 382,520 380,279 79.5 79.1 79.7 80.0 80.2 80.3
Open admissions 26,679 26,571 24,220 22,613 22,861 21,962 16,116 15,227 16,499 14,349 14,330 13,835 60.4 57.3 68.1 63.5 62.7 63.0
90 percent or more accepted 13,684 16,008 16,738 15,066 13,922 13,393 9,549 11,249 11,899 10,898 9,720 9,174 69.8 70.3 71.1 72.3 69.8 68.5
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 102,218 93,360 81,056 80,332 80,816 79,225 78,495 71,066 61,725 62,246 62,865 61,606 76.8 76.1 76.2 77.5 77.8 77.8
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 190,079 196,121 210,894 218,136 224,992 219,751 148,781 152,948 164,566 170,310 176,699 171,851 78.3 78.0 78.0 78.1 78.5 78.2
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 93,560 100,121 98,546 98,239 92,996 93,743 81,880 86,755 84,760 84,926 79,847 80,260 87.5 86.7 86.0 86.4 85.9 85.6
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 26,696 28,631 32,190 32,980 38,926 44,290 25,639 27,621 30,570 31,790 37,386 42,698 96.0 96.5 95.0 96.4 96.0 96.4
Information not available 4,650 8,143 4,576 3,382 2,399 1,436 3,300 5,874 3,333 2,207 1,673 855 71.0 72.1 72.8 65.3 69.7 59.5
                                     
For-profit institutions 88,764 100,206 70,667 48,970 43,693 40,741 40,279 49,797 38,458 25,626 23,491 20,941 45.4 49.7 54.4 52.3 53.8 51.4
Open admissions 45,273 46,801 20,894 16,997 16,350 20,661 18,735 22,723 12,459 9,329 8,990 10,758 41.4 48.6 59.6 54.9 55.0 52.1
90 percent or more accepted 6,285 5,347 4,632 3,713 2,900 5,234 3,454 2,764 2,465 1,301 1,524 2,426 55.0 51.7 53.2 35.0 52.6 46.4
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 3,703 6,157 6,384 3,224 2,428 2,860 2,081 3,129 3,085 1,549 1,284 1,354 56.2 50.8 48.3 48.0 52.9 47.3
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 12,845 19,724 8,874 15,929 10,122 4,854 6,536 10,249 5,602 8,243 5,443 2,691 50.9 52.0 63.1 51.7 53.8 55.4
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 18,142 18,118 28,288 6,098 7,214 6,860 8,036 8,672 14,094 3,423 3,942 3,547 44.3 47.9 49.8 56.1 54.6 51.7
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Information not available 2,516 4,059 1,595 3,009 4,679 272 1,437 2,260 753 1,781 2,308 165 57.1 55.7 47.2 59.2 49.3 60.7
                                     
2-year institutions 712,983 764,551 784,329 920,928 879,618 798,369 426,646 466,348 470,225 560,038 526,976 470,874 59.8 61.0 60.0 60.8 59.9 59.0
Public institutions 611,643 667,819 681,690 797,717 757,565 707,762 361,154 400,406 402,017 477,653 446,136 411,603 59.0 60.0 59.0 59.9 58.9 58.2
Nonprofit institutions 8,573 8,414 7,933 7,960 10,952 10,698 5,324 4,981 4,759 4,697 6,697 6,437 62.1 59.2 60.0 59.0 61.1 60.2
For-profit institutions 92,767 88,318 94,706 115,251 111,101 79,909 60,168 60,961 63,449 77,688 74,143 52,834 64.9 69.0 67.0 67.4 66.7 66.1
  Part-time student retention
All institutions 463,234 532,827 519,619 551,181 545,227 532,000 191,586 219,857 210,836 231,593 228,460 224,512 41.4 41.3 40.6 42.0 41.9 42.2
Public institutions 419,006 475,209 477,242 502,825 497,707 494,287 171,746 194,321 192,225 211,093 210,585 209,121 41.0 40.9 40.3 42.0 42.3 42.3
Nonprofit institutions 14,585 14,414 11,213 10,369 9,861 9,757 7,018 6,523 5,477 4,899 4,360 4,384 48.1 45.3 48.8 47.2 44.2 44.9
For-profit institutions 29,643 43,204 31,164 37,987 37,659 27,956 12,822 19,013 13,134 15,601 13,515 11,007 43.3 44.0 42.1 41.1 35.9 39.4
                                     
4-year institutions 82,367 95,410 97,051 73,376 69,350 58,104 38,257 43,441 45,678 32,720 29,048 25,327 46.4 45.5 47.1 44.6 41.9 43.6
                                     
Public institutions 48,353 48,190 63,932 34,504 29,922 28,594 23,631 23,006 31,910 17,240 15,361 14,235 48.9 47.7 49.9 50.0 51.3 49.8
Open admissions 20,223 20,645 38,295 9,470 6,318 6,291 8,298 9,122 17,982 3,852 2,626 2,443 41.0 44.2 47.0 40.7 41.6 38.8
90 percent or more accepted 3,745 3,450 2,707 3,735 4,930 2,263 1,909 1,667 1,205 1,861 2,784 998 51.0 48.3 44.5 49.8 56.5 44.1
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 8,969 8,145 7,476 6,504 5,650 5,993 4,196 3,818 3,872 3,277 2,856 3,106 46.8 46.9 51.8 50.4 50.5 51.8
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 11,599 12,236 11,969 11,496 10,667 10,801 6,766 6,245 6,649 6,131 5,699 5,802 58.3 51.0 55.6 53.3 53.4 53.7
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 3,373 3,023 3,084 3,125 2,262 2,965 2,223 1,866 1,992 2,023 1,330 1,745 65.9 61.7 64.6 64.7 58.8 58.9
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 65 44 42 44 43 41 50 34 34 35 35 27 76.9 77.3 81.0 79.5 81.4 65.9
Information not available 379 647 359 130 52 240 189 254 176 61 31 114 49.9 39.3 49.0 46.9 59.6 47.5
                                     
Nonprofit institutions 12,828 12,886 9,883 9,609 9,110 8,802 6,045 5,614 4,772 4,499 3,992 3,870 47.1 43.6 48.3 46.8 43.8 44.0
Open admissions 5,446 5,330 3,369 3,821 3,949 4,220 2,579 2,306 1,504 1,693 1,614 1,636 47.4 43.3 44.6 44.3 40.9 38.8
90 percent or more accepted 523 1,272 971 393 478 843 237 434 421 199 180 357 45.3 34.1 43.4 50.6 37.7 42.3
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 2,459 2,132 1,307 1,177 951 1,254 1,047 895 633 558 456 671 42.6 42.0 48.4 47.4 47.9 53.5
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 3,131 2,899 2,016 3,256 2,955 1,868 1,406 1,307 1,029 1,531 1,333 844 44.9 45.1 51.0 47.0 45.1 45.2
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 853 917 1,963 712 647 466 452 478 1,016 366 319 240 53.0 52.1 51.8 51.4 49.3 51.5
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 112 94 78 93 84 116 86 84 70 78 67 104 76.8 89.4 89.7 83.9 79.8 89.7
Information not available 304 242 179 157 46 35 238 110 99 74 23 18 78.3 45.5 55.3 47.1 50.0 51.4
                                     
For-profit institutions 21,186 34,334 23,236 29,263 30,318 20,708 8,581 14,821 8,996 10,981 9,695 7,222 40.5 43.2 38.7 37.5 32.0 34.9
Open admissions 10,515 20,602 10,933 10,996 13,052 10,632 4,105 9,896 4,296 4,333 4,767 4,251 39.0 48.0 39.3 39.4 36.5 40.0
90 percent or more accepted 2,212 1,616 3,518 1,375 2,549 2,246 639 735 1,037 379 569 643 28.9 45.5 29.5 27.6 22.3 28.6
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 2,838 2,702 2,057 3,151 2,407 4,145 1,342 959 697 1,093 527 1,106 47.3 35.5 33.9 34.7 21.9 26.7
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 2,774 4,360 3,686 4,661 6,237 525 1,134 1,399 1,707 2,283 1,996 221 40.9 32.1 46.3 49.0 32.0 42.1
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 2,033 3,185 2,584 1,099 1,826 2,933 627 951 1,116 342 583 936 30.8 29.9 43.2 31.1 31.9 31.9
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 0 170 48 0 0 0 0 67 22 0 0 0 39.4 45.8
Information not available 814 1,699 410 7,981 4,247 227 734 814 121 2,551 1,253 65 90.2 47.9 29.5 32.0 29.5 28.6
                                     
2-year institutions 380,867 437,417 422,568 477,805 475,877 473,896 153,329 176,416 165,158 198,873 199,412 199,185 40.3 40.3 39.1 41.6 41.9 42.0
Public institutions 370,653 427,019 413,310 468,321 467,785 465,693 148,115 171,315 160,315 193,853 195,224 194,886 40.0 40.1 38.8 41.4 41.7 41.8
Nonprofit institutions 1,757 1,528 1,330 760 751 955 973 909 705 400 368 514 55.4 59.5 53.0 52.6 49.0 53.8
For-profit institutions 8,457 8,870 7,928 8,724 7,341 7,248 4,241 4,192 4,138 4,620 3,820 3,785 50.1 47.3 52.2 53.0 52.0 52.2
†Not applicable.
1 Adjusted student counts exclude students who died or were totally and permanently disabled, served in the armed forces (including those called to active duty), served with a foreign aid service of the federal government (e.g., Peace Corps), or served on official church missions.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 2008 through Spring 2013, Enrollment component; and IPEDS Fall 2006 through Fall 2011, Institutional Characteristics component. (This table was prepared January 2014.)

2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest