HBCUs with the Highest Retention Rates

HBCUs with the Highest Retention Rates, ranked by first-year retention rate. Retention measures returning students, not satisfaction. Four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates. Online-only schools are excluded. This page lists all 72 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

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1Spelman CollegeAtlanta, Georgia94.1%25%1220$39k$60k78%3,414222 mi 2Howard UniversityWashington, District of Columbia90.9%41%1213$51k$63k70%10,1083 mi 3Florida Agricultural and Mechanical UniversityTallahassee, Florida89.2%21%1107$14k$44k53%7,58223 mi 4Morehouse CollegeAtlanta, Georgia86.9%44%1090$39k$53k59%2,844222 mi 5Hampton UniversityHampton, Virginia85.3%62%969$25k$59k57%3,7271 mi 6Tougaloo CollegeTougaloo, Mississippi83.2%60%—$17k$35k33%639139 mi 7Tuskegee UniversityTuskegee, Alabama80.7%49%1120$35k$50k55%2,630136 mi 8Albany State UniversityAlbany, Georgia78.6%——$12k$41k31%5,956101 mi 9Fort Valley State UniversityFort Valley, Georgia78.5%66%994$10k$37k41%2,684162 mi 10Dillard UniversityNew Orleans, Louisiana78.0%42%1050$22k$39k43%1,0633 mi 11North Carolina A & T State UniversityGreensboro, North Carolina77.5%50%1074$11k$44k57%12,182157 mi 12Winston-Salem State UniversityWinston-Salem, North Carolina77.3%78%945$13k$45k47%4,170178 mi 13Elizabeth City State UniversityElizabeth City, North Carolina76.9%64%1019$6k$40k44%1,9751 mi 14Alcorn State UniversityAlcorn State, Mississippi76.6%45%904$13k$36k57%2,363116 mi 15Prairie View A & M UniversityPrairie View, Texas75.6%79%980$14k$45k43%8,87761 mi 16Claflin UniversityOrangeburg, South Carolina75.5%65%—$18k$40k52%1,70666 mi 17Fayetteville State UniversityFayetteville, North Carolina75.3%82%959$8k$40k38%5,76281 mi 18Savannah State UniversitySavannah, Georgia74.7%——$8k$38k28%2,8338 mi 19Wilberforce UniversityWilberforce, Ohio74.2%41%—$6k$38k12%822129 mi 20Fisk UniversityNashville, Tennessee73.8%37%1200$32k$45k30%1,035378 mi 21Lincoln UniversityLincoln University, Pennsylvania73.4%66%920$15k$43k44%1,53914 mi 22Morgan State UniversityBaltimore, Maryland73.3%82%971$15k$51k41%9,0195 mi 23North Carolina Central UniversityDurham, North Carolina72.7%87%1050$15k$43k42%6,081108 mi 24Norfolk State UniversityNorfolk, Virginia72.6%88%927$15k$45k39%5,3922 mi 25Xavier University of LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana71.7%69%1080$17k$52k49%2,6285 mi 26Johnson C Smith UniversityCharlotte, North Carolina71.3%45%—$21k$43k34%1,244155 mi 27Oakwood UniversityHuntsville, Alabama71.1%45%—$26k$42k45%1,153288 mi 28Clark Atlanta UniversityAtlanta, Georgia70.7%64%—$38k$43k49%3,603222 mi 29Livingstone CollegeSalisbury, North Carolina70.6%59%—$13k$33k28%924163 mi 30Delaware State UniversityDover, Delaware70.0%47%940$14k$49k39%4,3987 mi 31Alabama A & M UniversityNormal, Alabama69.9%58%938$18k$41k24%6,124290 mi 32Alabama State UniversityMontgomery, Alabama69.8%98%976$20k$35k30%3,477128 mi 33Mississippi Valley State UniversityItta Bena, Mississippi69.8%92%870$10k$32k27%1,439216 mi 34Virginia State UniversityPetersburg, Virginia69.4%89%948$16k$46k39%5,07410 mi 35University of the Virgin IslandsCharlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands68.6%99%938$7k$39k28%1,5181 mi 36Cheyney University of PennsylvaniaCheyney, Pennsylvania68.5%——$14k$38k41%61710 mi 37Harris-Stowe State UniversitySaint Louis, Missouri68.4%——$10k$31k28%960256 mi 38Bowie State UniversityBowie, Maryland68.2%72%—$19k$55k38%5,04310 mi 39Virginia Union UniversityRichmond, Virginia66.6%98%850$13k$38k34%1,20318 mi 40Coppin State UniversityBaltimore, Maryland66.2%46%975$10k$46k26%1,8444 mi 41Texas Southern UniversityHouston, Texas66.2%97%914$17k$39k22%6,84418 mi 42Grambling State UniversityGrambling, Louisiana66.1%45%943$20k$41k36%4,164187 mi 43Philander Smith UniversityLittle Rock, Arkansas65.7%——$14k$38k30%751324 mi 44University of Arkansas at Pine BluffPine Bluff, Arkansas64.2%41%922$13k$36k40%1,807286 mi 45Kentucky State UniversityFrankfort, Kentucky63.7%96%870$8k$36k32%1,309245 mi 46Jackson State UniversityJackson, Mississippi62.4%93%965$24k$39k51%4,600132 mi 47University of Maryland Eastern ShorePrincess Anne, Maryland61.8%96%—$13k$48k35%2,3916 mi 48Bethune-Cookman UniversityDaytona Beach, Florida61.8%88%880$12k$39k31%2,7322 mi 49Southern University Law CenterBaton Rouge, Louisiana60.5%———$43k—60751 mi 50Southern University and A & M CollegeBaton Rouge, Louisiana60.3%35%942$20k$43k27%5,51951 mi 51Lincoln UniversityJefferson City, Missouri59.9%——$19k$39k21%1,392328 mi 52Huston-Tillotson UniversityAustin, Texas58.2%39%1014$20k$43k34%1,005124 mi 53Benedict CollegeColumbia, South Carolina57.3%96%—$18k$32k24%1,536101 mi 54West Virginia State UniversityInstitute, West Virginia56.7%96%955$11k$40k39%1,321211 mi 55South Carolina State UniversityOrangeburg, South Carolina56.5%83%—$18k$38k37%2,93466 mi 56Miles CollegeFairfield, Alabama56.3%——$14k$33k16%1,155199 mi 57Central State UniversityWilberforce, Ohio55.9%99%—$13k$33k23%2,620128 mi 58Bluefield State UniversityBluefield, West Virginia54.8%97%989$14k$38k37%1,042218 mi 59Talladega CollegeTalladega, Alabama54.4%85%—$16k$32k31%701202 mi 60Edward Waters UniversityJacksonville, Florida53.8%85%—$14k$35k28%1,08717 mi 61Stillman CollegeTuscaloosa, Alabama52.8%62%—$15k$35k25%706172 mi 62Southern University at New OrleansNew Orleans, Louisiana52.0%79%944$15k$34k13%1,0551 mi 63Shaw UniversityRaleigh, North Carolina51.6%80%—$17k$34k22%87591 mi 64Wiley UniversityMarshall, Texas49.6%——$7k$33k24%712179 mi 65Florida Memorial UniversityMiami Gardens, Florida49.5%85%—$23k$37k31%1,1837 mi 66Paul Quinn CollegeDallas, Texas49.0%40%—$13k$29k27%620226 mi 67Jarvis Christian UniversityHawkins, Texas47.6%——$10k$33k15%577195 mi 68Le Moyne-Owen CollegeMemphis, Tennessee47.2%99%—$7k$36k27%581324 mi 69Allen UniversityColumbia, South Carolina45.0%73%—$11k$30k13%576101 mi 70Lane CollegeJackson, Tennessee44.3%——$11k$32k18%736341 mi 71Texas CollegeTyler, Texas34.0%——$11k$34k14%614182 mi 72Tennessee State UniversityNashville, Tennessee33.5%70%1000$16k$43k34%4,848378 mi

US Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS. Missing or suppressed values are excluded. A ranking is a comparison of the named measure, not an overall quality score.