Colleges with the Highest Retention Rates in Illinois

Colleges with the Highest Retention Rates in Illinois, ranked by first-year retention rate. Share of students returning after their first year. Four-year campus colleges with at least 500 undergraduates. Four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates. Online-only schools are excluded. This page lists all 50 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

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1University of ChicagoChicago, Illinois99.3%4%1554$15k$92k96%7,5691 mi 2Northwestern UniversityEvanston, Illinois98.1%8%1533$29k$89k95%9,2011 mi 3University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignChampaign, Illinois94.8%42%1440$14k$81k85%36,258115 mi 4Wheaton CollegeWheaton, Illinois92.6%87%1380$27k$64k85%2,12124 mi 5Lake Forest CollegeLake Forest, Illinois89.9%57%1343$29k$62k78%1,8131 mi 6Illinois Institute of TechnologyChicago, Illinois86.0%55%1311$18k$83k75%2,8331 mi 7DePaul UniversityChicago, Illinois85.5%76%1262$31k$69k68%14,0901 mi 8Moody Bible InstituteChicago, Illinois83.9%83%—$22k$45k62%1,5101 mi 9School of the Art Institute of ChicagoChicago, Illinois83.8%77%—$50k$40k67%2,8051 mi 10Knox CollegeGalesburg, Illinois83.1%71%1326$25k$55k68%1,127156 mi 11Bradley UniversityPeoria, Illinois82.7%77%—$23k$67k76%3,574130 mi 12Augustana CollegeRock Island, Illinois82.1%63%1165$23k$63k73%2,490150 mi 13Loyola University ChicagoChicago, Illinois81.7%82%1297$36k$72k73%11,737< 1 mi 14Trinity Christian CollegePalos Heights, Illinois81.5%85%1157$19k$56k58%82014 mi 15Illinois State UniversityNormal, Illinois81.4%88%1113$19k$62k65%19,057113 mi 16University of Illinois ChicagoChicago, Illinois80.2%77%1250$11k$69k62%22,1702 mi 17Illinois Wesleyan UniversityBloomington, Illinois80.0%39%1275$28k$71k75%1,582114 mi 18Elmhurst UniversityElmhurst, Illinois79.9%74%1151$24k$61k70%3,00616 mi 19Lewis UniversityRomeoville, Illinois79.1%71%1096$17k$66k67%4,01529 mi 20University of St FrancisJoliet, Illinois78.8%65%1141$13k$64k67%1,22332 mi 21Dominican UniversityRiver Forest, Illinois77.9%90%1002$12k$60k55%2,5619 mi 22North Central CollegeNaperville, Illinois77.1%77%1213$21k$60k64%2,42828 mi 23Aurora UniversityAurora, Illinois77.1%81%1076$19k$59k60%3,97438 mi 24Saint Xavier UniversityChicago, Illinois75.7%84%—$11k$59k57%3,0969 mi 25Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville, Illinois75.7%98%1100$15k$56k57%8,750240 mi 26Millikin UniversityDecatur, Illinois75.0%67%1034$22k$51k55%1,382149 mi 27University of Illinois SpringfieldSpringfield, Illinois74.8%86%1102$10k$57k53%2,263176 mi 28Monmouth CollegeMonmouth, Illinois74.4%91%1128$17k$51k65%702170 mi 29Chamberlain University-IllinoisAddison, Illinois72.7%83%—$32k$92k42%14,02719 mi 30Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston, Illinois71.7%65%1000$13k$52k47%4,188155 mi 31Olivet Nazarene UniversityBourbonnais, Illinois70.8%56%1117$21k$53k61%2,60342 mi 32Greenville UniversityGreenville, Illinois70.8%98%1038$20k$47k40%955217 mi 33Illinois CollegeJacksonville, Illinois70.6%78%1064$18k$53k64%930198 mi 34Quincy UniversityQuincy, Illinois70.0%51%1098$20k$50k45%1,010236 mi 35Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb, Illinois69.6%70%—$13k$58k49%11,30153 mi 36McKendree UniversityLebanon, Illinois67.3%72%—$25k$59k53%1,752245 mi 37Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale, Illinois66.8%87%1055$13k$53k62%8,494288 mi 38Columbia College ChicagoChicago, Illinois66.0%89%—$27k$42k52%5,3681 mi 39Benedictine UniversityLisle, Illinois66.0%95%—$22k$63k50%1,94226 mi 40Rockford UniversityRockford, Illinois65.3%93%956$22k$55k47%97261 mi 41North Park UniversityChicago, Illinois61.7%69%—$17k$60k58%1,8183 mi 42Roosevelt UniversityChicago, Illinois61.6%97%1011$20k$49k35%2,8491 mi 43Western Illinois UniversityMacomb, Illinois61.4%71%—$13k$54k45%4,410186 mi 44Concordia University-ChicagoRiver Forest, Illinois60.5%93%—$18k$54k36%1,3239 mi 45Judson UniversityElgin, Illinois59.2%48%1039$19k$56k60%70827 mi 46Chicago State UniversityChicago, Illinois57.3%43%—$12k$43k15%1,3844 mi 47Governors State UniversityUniversity Park, Illinois56.2%48%—$12k$58k22%2,55621 mi 48Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicago, Illinois52.3%75%—$14k$52k22%3,9823 mi 49National Louis UniversityChicago, Illinois50.4%95%—$13k$46k30%4,4061 mi 50Eureka CollegeEureka, Illinois50.4%85%—$17k$52k42%522115 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.