Colleges with the Highest Retention Rates in Iowa

Colleges with the Highest Retention Rates in Iowa, 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 28 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

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1Grinnell CollegeGrinnell, Iowa92.6%15%1486$18k$63k88%1,729254 mi 2University of IowaIowa City, Iowa90.4%84%1200$23k$65k75%22,264195 mi 3Iowa State UniversityAmes, Iowa87.6%89%1204$19k$63k75%25,367299 mi 4Dordt UniversitySioux Center, Iowa84.7%68%1221$26k$53k70%1,597322 mi 5Drake UniversityDes Moines, Iowa84.1%64%1292$29k$72k74%2,543303 mi 6Loras CollegeDubuque, Iowa82.3%100%—$21k$58k68%1,083145 mi 7University of Northern IowaCedar Falls, Iowa81.7%93%1122$16k$55k68%7,529234 mi 8Simpson CollegeIndianola, Iowa81.3%86%1440$22k$59k63%1,227302 mi 9Central CollegePella, Iowa79.9%86%1147$23k$54k66%1,070269 mi 10Cornell CollegeMount Vernon, Iowa79.5%80%1234$24k$53k62%1,086186 mi 11Luther CollegeDecorah, Iowa77.0%72%1218$23k$60k71%1,379196 mi 12University of DubuqueDubuque, Iowa76.6%89%1110$23k$51k40%1,440146 mi 13Buena Vista UniversityStorm Lake, Iowa76.0%78%1120$19k$49k62%1,366322 mi 14Saint Ambrose UniversityDavenport, Iowa75.8%77%1093$25k$60k61%1,916150 mi 15Wartburg CollegeWaverly, Iowa75.7%76%1136$33k$56k64%1,452233 mi 16Morningside UniversitySioux City, Iowa74.2%71%—$31k$55k50%1,163362 mi 17Northwestern CollegeOrange City, Iowa73.5%80%—$26k$50k66%1,175323 mi 18Mount Mercy UniversityCedar Rapids, Iowa72.8%83%—$20k$61k58%1,107197 mi 19Coe CollegeCedar Rapids, Iowa72.7%64%1223$19k$57k66%1,164198 mi 20Grand View UniversityDes Moines, Iowa70.2%99%—$22k$53k54%1,486300 mi 21Mercy College of Health SciencesDes Moines, Iowa69.2%100%980$27k$62k66%867302 mi 22Upper Iowa UniversityFayette, Iowa67.7%96%1090$21k$53k34%1,994198 mi 23Clarke UniversityDubuque, Iowa67.3%72%1054$24k$55k56%742146 mi 24Briar Cliff UniversitySioux City, Iowa64.2%——$24k$54k48%624361 mi 25Maharishi International UniversityFairfield, Iowa61.3%96%—$15k$28k50%922231 mi 26William Penn UniversityOskaloosa, Iowa58.2%52%984$23k$49k33%1,301257 mi 27Graceland University-LamoniLamoni, Iowa55.0%81%—$19k$47k42%798336 mi 28Waldorf UniversityForest City, Iowa44.1%77%—$20k$51k21%1,827251 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.