Digest of Education Statistics
2020 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 2019 
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 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2007 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2006 to 2007 2009 to 2010 2014 to 2015 2015 to 2016 2016 to 2017 2017 to 2018 2018 to 2019
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 2,170,504 2,371,220 2,211,406 2,180,675 2,177,194 2,180,000 2,189,016 1,541,201 1,705,242 1,647,295 1,640,963 1,643,904 1,648,563 1,667,255 71.0 71.9 74.5 75.3 75.5 75.6 76.2
Public institutions 1,522,928 1,732,822 1,639,875 1,619,768 1,620,387 1,624,257 1,629,013 1,071,986 1,222,688 1,200,374 1,198,609 1,203,750 1,206,831 1,218,853 70.4 70.6 73.2 74.0 74.3 74.3 74.8
Nonprofit institutions 466,078 478,755 489,834 491,898 491,742 505,749 511,834 368,783 381,364 396,659 399,434 399,354 409,756 416,353 79.1 79.7 81.0 81.2 81.2 81.0 81.3
For-profit institutions 181,498 159,643 81,697 69,009 65,065 49,994 48,169 100,432 101,190 50,262 42,920 40,800 31,976 32,049 55.3 63.4 61.5 62.2 62.7 64.0 66.5

4-year institutions
1,457,745 1,452,575 1,501,582 1,524,088 1,534,945 1,552,952 1,575,193 1,114,923 1,146,534 1,212,464 1,231,920 1,242,850 1,257,806 1,280,414 76.5 78.9 80.7 80.8 81.0 81.0 81.3

Public institutions
911,509 936,840 995,110 1,018,253 1,028,968 1,041,528 1,058,081 711,200 745,703 807,687 825,885 836,675 845,962 861,878 78.0 79.6 81.2 81.1 81.3 81.2 81.5
Open admissions 61,832 45,458 31,477 26,888 26,839 27,518 27,825 38,383 28,675 19,618 16,689 16,671 17,296 16,898 62.1 63.1 62.3 62.1 62.1 62.9 60.7
90 percent or more accepted 68,835 63,453 60,160 71,117 69,603 82,664 90,253 49,274 46,280 43,559 51,533 50,537 60,453 66,987 71.6 72.9 72.4 72.5 72.6 73.1 74.2
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 244,177 212,573 281,422 317,658 288,854 306,275 345,056 185,457 163,639 221,245 251,113 228,127 241,653 272,382 76.0 77.0 78.6 79.1 79.0 78.9 78.9
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 417,093 462,554 456,622 435,275 468,321 433,857 402,931 336,365 376,021 376,587 357,438 383,791 354,829 331,743 80.6 81.3 82.5 82.1 82.0 81.8 82.3
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 103,118 131,241 145,622 150,981 156,438 167,077 161,544 88,908 112,209 128,568 133,668 139,838 148,466 144,458 86.2 85.5 88.3 88.5 89.4 88.9 89.4
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 7,716 14,326 14,947 15,563 15,951 22,740 30,371 7,048 13,649 14,336 14,959 15,330 21,999 29,339 91.3 95.3 95.9 96.1 96.1 96.7 96.6
Information not available 8,738 7,235 4,860 771 2,962 1,397 101 5,765 5,230 3,774 485 2,381 1,266 71 66.0 72.3 77.7 62.9 80.4 90.6 70.3

Nonprofit institutions
457,505 470,795 476,823 481,241 484,334 495,012 501,254 363,459 376,668 388,745 392,330 394,415 402,044 408,536 79.4 80.0 81.5 81.5 81.4 81.2 81.5
Open admissions 26,565 22,613 11,792 13,289 13,378 12,116 16,599 16,019 14,349 7,414 8,499 8,795 7,870 10,314 60.3 63.5 62.9 64.0 65.7 65.0 62.1
90 percent or more accepted 13,632 15,135 22,225 28,503 23,596 33,038 30,924 9,543 10,953 16,188 20,247 16,897 23,969 22,466 70.0 72.4 72.8 71.0 71.6 72.5 72.6
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 102,358 80,301 94,830 80,940 91,372 92,984 104,763 78,424 62,196 74,984 63,872 71,328 72,983 82,717 76.6 77.5 79.1 78.9 78.1 78.5 79.0
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 190,079 218,072 199,677 199,442 203,979 201,208 200,478 148,681 170,232 157,866 157,181 162,016 158,251 158,123 78.2 78.1 79.1 78.8 79.4 78.7 78.9
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 93,560 98,312 95,164 102,823 98,053 95,866 77,385 81,880 84,941 82,511 89,426 84,421 82,883 66,589 87.5 86.4 86.7 87.0 86.1 86.5 86.0
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 26,696 32,980 48,076 54,573 51,642 55,035 70,291 25,639 31,790 46,054 51,699 49,508 53,162 67,789 96.0 96.4 95.8 94.7 95.9 96.6 96.4
Information not available 4,615 3,382 5,059 1,671 2,314 4,765 814 3,273 2,207 3,728 1,406 1,450 2,926 538 70.9 65.3 73.7 84.1 62.7 61.4 66.1

For-profit institutions
88,731 44,940 29,649 24,594 21,643 16,412 15,858 40,264 24,163 16,032 13,705 11,760 9,800 10,000 45.4 53.8 54.1 55.7 54.3 59.7 63.1
Open admissions 45,240 16,826 21,732 16,511 13,943 10,035 8,995 18,720 9,260 10,827 8,270 6,706 5,487 5,314 41.4 55.0 49.8 50.1 48.1 54.7 59.1
90 percent or more accepted 6,285 3,722 591 770 1,108 803 409 3,454 1,311 308 472 559 560 214 55.0 35.2 52.1 61.3 50.5 69.7 52.3
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 3,703 3,224 5,265 3,253 1,174 2,900 3,537 2,081 1,549 3,459 2,159 885 1,852 2,316 56.2 48.0 65.7 66.4 75.4 63.9 65.5
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 12,845 12,061 1,489 3,000 4,577 2,344 2,120 6,536 6,839 994 1,973 3,108 1,639 1,525 50.9 56.7 66.8 65.8 67.9 69.9 71.9
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 18,142 6,098 463 1,020 672 300 624 8,036 3,423 353 802 363 240 497 44.3 56.1 76.2 78.6 54.0 80.0 79.6
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 0 3 0 8 1 0 3 0 2 0 8 1 0 1 66.7 100.0 100.0 33.3
Information not available 2,516 3,006 109 32 168 30 170 1,437 1,779 91 21 138 22 133 57.1 59.2 83.5 65.6 82.1 73.3 78.2

2-year institutions
712,759 918,645 709,824 656,587 642,249 627,048 613,823 426,278 558,708 434,831 409,043 401,054 390,757 386,841 59.8 60.8 61.3 62.3 62.4 62.3 63.0
Public institutions 611,419 795,982 644,765 601,515 591,419 582,729 570,932 360,786 476,985 392,687 372,724 367,075 360,869 356,975 59.0 59.9 60.9 62.0 62.1 61.9 62.5
Nonprofit institutions 8,573 7,960 13,011 10,657 7,408 10,737 10,580 5,324 4,696 7,914 7,104 4,939 7,712 7,817 62.1 59.0 60.8 66.7 66.7 71.8 73.9
For-profit institutions 92,767 114,703 52,048 44,415 43,422 33,582 32,311 60,168 77,027 34,230 29,215 29,040 22,176 22,049 64.9 67.2 65.8 65.8 66.9 66.0 68.2

Part-time students
                                         
All institutions 461,574 545,635 470,772 429,109 411,269 403,410 381,623 190,547 229,566 205,366 192,527 186,683 182,673 171,588 41.3 42.1 43.6 44.9 45.4 45.3 45.0
Public institutions 417,314 497,453 445,495 404,279 390,075 379,770 359,572 170,682 209,164 195,147 181,993 177,878 172,723 161,996 40.9 42.0 43.8 45.0 45.6 45.5 45.1
Nonprofit institutions 14,618 10,359 8,885 10,446 8,825 13,898 12,349 7,027 4,892 3,681 4,951 3,893 5,965 5,377 48.1 47.2 41.4 47.4 44.1 42.9 43.5
For-profit institutions 29,642 37,823 16,392 14,384 12,369 9,742 9,702 12,838 15,510 6,538 5,583 4,912 3,985 4,215 43.3 41.0 39.9 38.8 39.7 40.9 43.4

4-year institutions
81,423 72,046 46,606 48,716 46,515 50,249 48,847 37,988 32,344 21,818 23,845 22,669 24,708 23,983 46.7 44.9 46.8 48.9 48.7 49.2 49.1

Public institutions
47,377 33,327 25,833 28,096 29,746 29,463 29,077 23,337 16,944 13,917 15,374 16,029 16,153 15,575 49.3 50.8 53.9 54.7 53.9 54.8 53.6
Open admissions 19,247 8,356 4,605 4,412 5,403 4,176 4,152 8,004 3,586 1,791 1,873 2,136 1,654 1,694 41.6 42.9 38.9 42.5 39.5 39.6 40.8
90 percent or more accepted 3,745 4,004 1,951 2,931 2,326 2,509 2,511 1,909 1,959 880 1,382 1,013 1,089 1,157 51.0 48.9 45.1 47.2 43.6 43.4 46.1
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 8,969 6,493 6,663 8,722 9,007 9,642 11,111 4,196 3,268 3,591 4,972 4,925 5,319 6,068 46.8 50.3 53.9 57.0 54.7 55.2 54.6
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 11,599 11,254 10,343 9,815 10,729 10,892 9,379 6,766 6,053 6,107 5,654 6,458 6,629 5,348 58.3 53.8 59.0 57.6 60.2 60.9 57.0
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 3,373 3,046 2,040 2,112 2,103 2,176 1,788 2,223 1,982 1,395 1,433 1,392 1,414 1,208 65.9 65.1 68.4 67.9 66.2 65.0 67.6
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 65 44 58 48 65 58 80 50 35 49 38 57 44 63 76.9 79.5 84.5 79.2 87.7 75.9 78.8
Information not available 379 130 173 56 113 10 56 189 61 104 22 48 4 37 49.9 46.9 60.1 39.3 42.5 40.0 66.1

Nonprofit institutions
12,861 9,599 8,093 9,686 7,962 13,352 11,700 6,054 4,491 3,322 4,612 3,553 5,755 5,150 47.1 46.8 41.0 47.6 44.6 43.1 44.0
Open admissions 5,419 3,821 1,450 1,540 1,583 1,757 1,988 2,558 1,693 486 673 660 758 862 47.2 44.3 33.5 43.7 41.7 43.1 43.4
90 percent or more accepted 523 393 494 3,769 1,990 911 985 237 199 204 1,882 887 565 519 45.3 50.6 41.3 49.9 44.6 62.0 52.7
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 2,459 1,164 1,903 874 938 4,522 1,009 1,047 550 811 422 465 1,967 442 42.6 47.3 42.6 48.3 49.6 43.5 43.8
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 3,131 3,256 2,231 1,812 2,358 1,985 7,178 1,406 1,531 928 839 1,018 872 3,026 44.9 47.0 41.6 46.3 43.2 43.9 42.2
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 853 715 815 866 587 1,026 407 452 366 394 381 263 427 191 53.0 51.2 48.3 44.0 44.8 41.6 46.9
Less than 25.0 percent accepted 112 93 136 640 458 99 126 86 78 123 302 238 84 110 76.8 83.9 90.4 47.2 52.0 84.8 87.3
Information not available 364 157 1,064 185 48 3,052 7 268 74 376 113 22 1,082 0 73.6 47.1 35.3 61.1 45.8 35.5 0.0

For-profit institutions
21,185 29,120 12,680 10,934 8,807 7,434 8,070 8,597 10,909 4,579 3,859 3,087 2,800 3,258 40.6 37.5 36.1 35.3 35.1 37.7 40.4
Open admissions 10,514 10,926 10,089 8,822 6,384 5,667 5,999 4,121 4,299 3,863 3,183 2,388 2,227 2,528 39.2 39.3 38.3 36.1 37.4 39.3 42.1
90 percent or more accepted 2,212 1,372 123 246 453 204 205 639 375 30 85 115 47 55 28.9 27.3 24.4 34.6 25.4 23.0 26.8
75.0 to 89.9 percent accepted 2,838 3,151 1,794 1,027 109 1,065 1,315 1,342 1,093 492 259 29 382 501 47.3 34.7 27.4 25.2 26.6 35.9 38.1
50.0 to 74.9 percent accepted 2,774 4,591 586 753 812 487 494 1,134 2,249 158 282 328 141 146 40.9 49.0 27.0 37.5 40.4 29.0 29.6
25.0 to 49.9 percent accepted 2,033 1,099 9 81 1,043 6 33 627 342 2 45 227 3 14 30.8 31.1 22.2 55.6 21.8 50.0 42.4
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 79 5 6 5 24 734 2,551 34 5 0 0 14 90.2 32.0 43.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 58.3

2-year institutions
380,151 473,589 424,166 380,393 364,754 353,161 332,776 152,559 197,222 183,548 168,682 164,014 157,965 147,605 40.1 41.6 43.3 44.3 45.0 44.7 44.4
Public institutions 369,937 464,126 419,662 376,183 360,329 350,307 330,495 147,345 192,220 181,230 166,619 161,849 156,570 146,421 39.8 41.4 43.2 44.3 44.9 44.7 44.3
Nonprofit institutions 1,757 760 792 760 863 546 649 973 401 359 339 340 210 227 55.4 52.8 45.3 44.6 39.4 38.5 35.0
For-profit institutions 8,457 8,703 3,712 3,450 3,562 2,308 1,632 4,241 4,601 1,959 1,724 1,825 1,185 957 50.1 52.9 52.8 50.0 51.2 51.3 58.6
†Not applicable.
1 Adjusted entry cohort 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.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. For 4-year institutions, entry cohorts are based on first-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students. For 2-year institutions, entry cohorts are based on first-time degree/certificate-seeking students. At 2-year institutions, retained students include those who re-enrolled at the institution in the following fall term or completed their degree/certificate by the following fall term (e.g., short-term certificate 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 2020, Fall Enrollment component; and IPEDS Fall 2006 through Fall 2018, Institutional Characteristics component. (This table was prepared January 2021.)

2020 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest