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Digest of Education Statistics
2017 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: Selected years, 2006 to 2016
Attendance status, 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 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2007 2010 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2006 to 2007 2009 to 2010 2011 to 2012 2012 to 2013 2013 to 2014 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Full-time students                                          
All institutions 2,171,714 2,371,220 2,271,908 2,222,696 2,222,085 2,211,406 2,180,675 1,542,175 1,705,242 1,631,396 1,620,901 1,642,567 1,647,295 1,640,963 71.0 71.9 71.8 72.9 73.9 74.5 75.3
Public institutions 1,524,044 1,732,822 1,666,828 1,637,518 1,646,902 1,639,875 1,619,768 1,072,644 1,222,688 1,170,856 1,168,782 1,193,200 1,200,374 1,198,609 70.4 70.6 70.2 71.4 72.5 73.2 74.0
Nonprofit institutions 466,139 478,755 484,388 483,373 483,617 489,834 491,898 369,084 381,364 386,563 388,107 392,080 396,659 399,434 79.2 79.7 79.8 80.3 81.1 81.0 81.2
For-profit institutions 181,531 159,643 120,692 101,805 91,566 81,697 69,009 100,447 101,190 73,977 64,012 57,287 50,262 42,920 55.3 63.4 61.3 62.9 62.6 61.5 62.2
                                           
4-year institutions 1,458,731 1,452,575 1,472,189 1,466,129 1,483,526 1,501,582 1,524,088 1,115,529 1,146,534 1,159,681 1,166,522 1,194,097 1,212,464 1,231,920 76.5 78.9 78.8 79.6 80.5 80.7 80.8
                                           
Public institutions 912,401 936,840 957,744 957,709 978,041 995,110 1,018,253 711,490 745,703 758,616 765,686 790,227 807,687 825,885 78.0 79.6 79.2 79.9 80.8 81.2 81.1
Open admissions 62,724 45,458 41,111 34,897 34,706 31,477 26,888 38,839 28,675 24,978 21,128 21,547 19,618 16,689 61.9 63.1 60.8 60.5 62.1 62.3 62.1
90 percent or more accepted 68,835 63,453 50,200 47,775 55,188 60,160 71,117 49,274 46,280 35,197 33,969 40,116 43,559 51,533 71.6 72.9 70.1 71.1 72.7 72.4 72.5
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 244,177 212,573 230,328 226,673 261,763 281,422 312,658 185,457 163,639 176,676 174,316 203,517 221,245 247,045 76.0 77.0 76.7 76.9 77.7 78.6 79.0
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 417,093 462,554 451,184 469,245 461,551 456,622 440,275 336,199 376,021 363,305 381,576 381,607 376,587 361,506 80.6 81.3 80.5 81.3 82.7 82.5 82.1
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 103,118 131,241 169,908 164,067 147,849 145,622 150,981 88,908 112,209 145,215 141,671 127,595 128,568 133,668 86.2 85.5 85.5 86.3 86.3 88.3 88.5
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 7,716 14,326 9,468 8,843 15,315 14,947 15,563 7,048 13,649 9,013 8,357 14,651 14,336 14,959 91.3 95.3 95.2 94.5 95.7 95.9 96.1
Information not available 8,738 7,235 5,545 6,209 1,669 4,860 771 5,765 5,230 4,232 4,669 1,194 3,774 485 66.0 72.3 76.3 75.2 71.5 77.7 62.9
                                           
Nonprofit institutions 457,566 470,795 473,690 475,635 476,437 476,823 481,241 363,760 376,668 380,126 383,552 387,685 388,745 392,330 79.5 80.0 80.2 80.6 81.4 81.5 81.5
Open admissions 26,679 22,613 21,972 22,497 12,549 11,792 13,289 16,116 14,349 13,835 14,349 7,653 7,414 8,499 60.4 63.5 63.0 63.8 61.0 62.9 64.0
90 percent or more accepted 13,684 15,135 13,537 12,348 22,841 22,225 29,744 9,549 10,953 9,292 8,516 16,881 16,188 21,187 69.8 72.4 68.6 69.0 73.9 72.8 71.2
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 102,218 80,301 80,566 79,804 86,040 94,830 80,290 78,495 62,196 62,725 62,184 68,481 74,984 63,312 76.8 77.5 77.9 77.9 79.6 79.1 78.9
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 190,079 218,072 218,224 219,709 207,431 199,677 198,920 148,781 170,232 170,519 173,059 162,937 157,866 156,853 78.3 78.1 78.1 78.8 78.5 79.1 78.9
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 93,560 98,312 93,743 95,584 98,202 95,164 102,635 81,880 84,941 80,260 81,655 85,484 82,511 89,290 87.5 86.4 85.6 85.4 87.0 86.7 87.0
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 26,696 32,980 44,290 44,735 45,222 48,076 54,573 25,639 31,790 42,698 43,208 43,522 46,054 51,699 96.0 96.4 96.4 96.6 96.2 95.8 94.7
Information not available 4,650 3,382 1,358 958 4,152 5,059 1,790 3,300 2,207 797 581 2,727 3,728 1,490 71.0 65.3 58.7 60.6 65.7 73.7 83.2
                                           
For-profit institutions 88,764 44,940 40,755 32,785 29,048 29,649 24,594 40,279 24,163 20,939 17,284 16,185 16,032 13,705 45.4 53.8 51.4 52.7 55.7 54.1 55.7
Open admissions 45,273 16,826 20,710 16,799 19,206 21,732 16,511 18,735 9,260 10,769 8,325 10,053 10,827 8,270 41.4 55.0 52.0 49.6 52.3 49.8 50.1
90 percent or more accepted 6,285 3,722 5,380 3,337 717 591 770 3,454 1,311 2,511 1,650 509 308 472 55.0 35.2 46.7 49.4 71.0 52.1 61.3
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 3,703 3,224 2,857 1,880 2,920 5,265 3,253 2,081 1,549 1,352 1,224 1,865 3,459 2,159 56.2 48.0 47.3 65.1 63.9 65.7 66.4
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 12,845 12,061 4,849 6,268 3,690 1,489 3,000 6,536 6,839 2,691 3,613 2,472 994 1,973 50.9 56.7 55.5 57.6 67.0 66.8 65.8
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 18,142 6,098 6,687 2,908 419 463 1,020 8,036 3,423 3,451 1,554 293 353 802 44.3 56.1 51.6 53.4 69.9 76.2 78.6
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 0 3 0 0 0 0 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 8 66.7 100.0
Information not available 2,516 3,006 272 1,593 2,096 109 32 1,437 1,779 165 918 993 91 21 57.1 59.2 60.7 57.6 47.4 83.5 65.6
                                           
2-year institutions 712,983 918,645 799,719 756,567 738,559 709,824 656,587 426,646 558,708 471,715 454,379 448,470 434,831 409,043 59.8 60.8 59.0 60.1 60.7 61.3 62.3
Public institutions 611,643 795,982 709,084 679,809 668,861 644,765 601,515 361,154 476,985 412,240 403,096 402,973 392,687 372,724 59.0 59.9 58.1 59.3 60.2 60.9 62.0
Nonprofit institutions 8,573 7,960 10,698 7,738 7,180 13,011 10,657 5,324 4,696 6,437 4,555 4,395 7,914 7,104 62.1 59.0 60.2 58.9 61.2 60.8 66.7
For-profit institutions 92,767 114,703 79,937 69,020 62,518 52,048 44,415 60,168 77,027 53,038 46,728 41,102 34,230 29,215 64.9 67.2 66.3 67.7 65.7 65.8 65.8
                                           
Part-time students                                          
All institutions 463,234 545,635 532,017 515,589 490,124 470,772 429,109 191,586 229,566 224,401 222,328 213,235 205,366 192,527 41.4 42.1 42.2 43.1 43.5 43.6 44.9
Public institutions 419,006 497,453 494,294 482,851 461,943 445,495 404,279 171,746 209,164 209,013 209,042 202,243 195,147 181,993 41.0 42.0 42.3 43.3 43.8 43.8 45.0
Nonprofit institutions 14,585 10,359 9,788 9,858 9,340 8,885 10,446 7,018 4,892 4,395 3,971 3,883 3,681 4,951 48.1 47.2 44.9 40.3 41.6 41.4 47.4
For-profit institutions 29,643 37,823 27,935 22,880 18,841 16,392 14,384 12,822 15,510 10,993 9,315 7,109 6,538 5,583 43.3 41.0 39.4 40.7 37.7 39.9 38.8
                                           
4-year institutions 82,367 72,046 57,810 53,711 49,304 46,606 48,716 38,257 32,344 25,142 23,665 22,269 21,818 23,845 46.4 44.9 43.5 44.1 45.2 46.8 48.9
                                           
Public institutions 48,353 33,327 28,281 27,479 26,473 25,833 28,096 23,631 16,944 14,044 13,790 13,862 13,917 15,374 48.9 50.8 49.7 50.2 52.4 53.9 54.7
Open admissions 20,223 8,356 5,971 5,515 5,250 4,605 4,412 8,298 3,586 2,249 1,978 2,098 1,791 1,873 41.0 42.9 37.7 35.9 40.0 38.9 42.5
90 percent or more accepted 3,745 4,004 2,294 2,223 2,098 1,951 2,931 1,909 1,959 1,008 1,005 1,063 880 1,382 51.0 48.9 43.9 45.2 50.7 45.1 47.2
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 8,969 6,493 6,003 5,226 7,424 6,663 8,669 4,196 3,268 3,109 2,595 3,964 3,591 4,942 46.8 50.3 51.8 49.7 53.4 53.9 57.0
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 11,599 11,254 10,785 10,671 9,042 10,343 9,868 6,766 6,053 5,798 5,840 5,065 6,107 5,684 58.3 53.8 53.8 54.7 56.0 59.0 57.6
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 3,373 3,046 2,947 2,854 2,553 2,040 2,112 2,223 1,982 1,739 1,774 1,617 1,395 1,433 65.9 65.1 59.0 62.2 63.3 68.4 67.9
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 65 44 41 49 51 58 48 50 35 27 38 33 49 38 76.9 79.5 65.9 77.6 64.7 84.5 79.2
Information not available 379 130 240 941 55 173 56 189 61 114 560 22 104 22 49.9 46.9 47.5 59.5 40.0 60.1 39.3
                                           
Nonprofit institutions 12,828 9,599 8,833 9,118 8,501 8,093 9,686 6,045 4,491 3,881 3,603 3,448 3,322 4,612 47.1 46.8 43.9 39.5 40.6 41.0 47.6
Open admissions 5,446 3,821 4,226 4,433 2,434 1,450 1,540 2,579 1,693 1,634 1,400 848 486 673 47.4 44.3 38.7 31.6 34.8 33.5 43.7
90 percent or more accepted 523 393 843 915 1,159 494 3,777 237 199 358 377 468 204 1,888 45.3 50.6 42.5 41.2 40.4 41.3 50.0
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 2,459 1,164 1,278 1,174 1,332 1,903 874 1,047 550 683 520 622 811 422 42.6 47.3 53.4 44.3 46.7 42.6 48.3
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 3,131 3,256 1,869 1,786 1,515 2,231 1,812 1,406 1,531 844 847 701 928 839 44.9 47.0 45.2 47.4 46.3 41.6 46.3
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 853 715 466 582 606 815 857 452 366 240 276 305 394 374 53.0 51.2 51.5 47.4 50.3 48.3 43.6
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 112 93 116 126 115 136 640 86 78 104 106 101 123 302 76.8 83.9 89.7 84.1 87.8 90.4 47.2
Information not available 304 157 35 102 1,340 1,064 186 238 74 18 77 403 376 114 78.3 47.1 51.4 75.5 30.1 35.3 61.3
                                           
For-profit institutions 21,186 29,120 20,696 17,114 14,330 12,680 10,934 8,581 10,909 7,217 6,272 4,959 4,579 3,859 40.5 37.5 34.9 36.6 34.6 36.1 35.3
Open admissions 10,515 10,926 10,634 9,561 10,395 10,089 8,822 4,105 4,299 4,253 3,909 3,751 3,863 3,183 39.0 39.3 40.0 40.9 36.1 38.3 36.1
90 percent or more accepted 2,212 1,372 2,234 360 126 123 246 639 375 637 137 59 30 85 28.9 27.3 28.5 38.1 46.8 24.4 34.6
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 2,838 3,151 4,145 854 1,232 1,794 1,027 1,342 1,093 1,106 250 353 492 259 47.3 34.7 26.7 29.3 28.7 27.4 25.2
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 2,774 4,591 524 1,820 2,471 586 753 1,134 2,249 220 596 756 158 282 40.9 49.0 42.0 32.7 30.6 27.0 37.5
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 2,033 1,099 2,932 2,537 73 9 81 627 342 936 727 25 2 45 30.8 31.1 31.9 28.7 34.2 22.2 55.6
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Information not available 814 7,981 227 1,982 33 79 5 734 2,551 65 653 15 34 5 90.2 32.0 28.6 32.9 45.5 43.0 100.0
                                           
2-year institutions 380,867 473,589 474,207 461,878 440,820 424,166 380,393 153,329 197,222 199,259 198,663 190,966 183,548 168,682 40.3 41.6 42.0 43.0 43.3 43.3 44.3
Public institutions 370,653 464,126 466,013 455,372 435,470 419,662 376,183 148,115 192,220 194,969 195,252 188,381 181,230 166,619 40.0 41.4 41.8 42.9 43.3 43.2 44.3
Nonprofit institutions 1,757 760 955 740 839 792 760 973 401 514 368 435 359 339 55.4 52.8 53.8 49.7 51.8 45.3 44.6
For-profit institutions 8,457 8,703 7,239 5,766 4,511 3,712 3,450 4,241 4,601 3,776 3,043 2,150 1,959 1,724 50.1 52.9 52.2 52.8 47.7 52.8 50.0
†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. For 4-year institutions, the adjusted cohort is based on first-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students.
NOTE: Returning students data for 2-year institutions include returning students, plus students who completed their program. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 2008 through Spring 2017, Fall Enrollment component; and IPEDS Fall 2006 through Fall 2015, Institutional Characteristics component. (This table was prepared December 2017.)

2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest