Colleges with the Highest Retention Rates in North Carolina

Colleges with the Highest Retention Rates in North Carolina, 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 47 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

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1Duke UniversityDurham, North Carolina97.9%6%1548$30k$98k97%6,442111 mi 2University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina96.6%15%1439$12k$72k91%20,752115 mi 3Davidson CollegeDavidson, North Carolina94.6%13%1469$17k$81k91%1,867167 mi 4North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleigh, North Carolina94.5%42%1376$17k$69k85%27,37193 mi 5University of North Carolina School of the ArtsWinston Salem, North Carolina92.8%30%1260$15k$38k78%945178 mi 6Wake Forest UniversityWinston-Salem, North Carolina92.6%22%1475$29k$78k89%5,485183 mi 7Elon UniversityElon, North Carolina89.8%66%1208$42k$75k84%6,452143 mi 8University of North Carolina WilmingtonWilmington, North Carolina88.2%64%1287$20k$55k71%14,9223 mi 9High Point UniversityHigh Point, North Carolina85.4%75%1288$39k$61k74%5,129165 mi 10University of North Carolina at CharlotteCharlotte, North Carolina85.0%80%1231$15k$57k69%24,453153 mi 11Southeastern Baptist Theological SeminaryWake Forest, North Carolina84.6%75%1127$13k—58%58588 mi 12Appalachian State UniversityBoone, North Carolina83.7%90%1214$17k$52k75%19,444236 mi 13East Carolina UniversityGreenville, North Carolina82.7%89%1180$16k$55k63%19,89618 mi 14Meredith CollegeRaleigh, North Carolina79.4%74%1204$22k$52k70%1,18894 mi 15Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee, North Carolina79.1%82%1157$13k$49k60%10,024233 mi 16University of North Carolina at GreensboroGreensboro, North Carolina78.9%89%1193$11k$48k56%14,062159 mi 17North Carolina A & T State UniversityGreensboro, North Carolina77.5%50%1074$11k$44k57%12,182157 mi 18Catawba CollegeSalisbury, North Carolina77.3%75%1096$18k$49k47%1,235164 mi 19Winston-Salem State UniversityWinston-Salem, North Carolina77.3%78%945$13k$45k47%4,170178 mi 20Elizabeth City State UniversityElizabeth City, North Carolina76.9%64%1019$6k$40k44%1,9751 mi 21Campbell UniversityBuies Creek, North Carolina76.2%87%—$25k$55k61%2,68086 mi 22Lenoir-Rhyne UniversityHickory, North Carolina75.5%85%—$21k$46k48%1,359198 mi 23Fayetteville State UniversityFayetteville, North Carolina75.3%82%959$8k$40k38%5,76281 mi 24Queens University of CharlotteCharlotte, North Carolina74.1%62%1206$31k$58k61%1,211152 mi 25William Peace UniversityRaleigh, North Carolina73.6%94%1170$22k$47k45%66691 mi 26North Carolina Central UniversityDurham, North Carolina72.7%87%1050$15k$43k42%6,081108 mi 27Pfeiffer UniversityMisenheimer, North Carolina72.3%96%—$19k$52k35%655146 mi 28University of North Carolina AshevilleAsheville, North Carolina72.1%92%1251$12k$44k54%2,910234 mi 29University of Mount OliveMount Olive, North Carolina71.7%76%1050$19k$47k52%1,79648 mi 30University of North Carolina at PembrokePembroke, North Carolina71.6%93%1056$10k$43k44%5,33066 mi 31Johnson C Smith UniversityCharlotte, North Carolina71.3%45%—$21k$43k34%1,244155 mi 32Warren Wilson CollegeSwannanoa, North Carolina70.9%71%1350$21k$36k42%707231 mi 33Chowan UniversityMurfreesboro, North Carolina70.8%69%—$14k$38k30%60322 mi 34Livingstone CollegeSalisbury, North Carolina70.6%59%—$13k$33k28%924163 mi 35Wingate UniversityWingate, North Carolina70.5%91%1111$21k$53k46%2,668126 mi 36Belmont Abbey CollegeBelmont, North Carolina70.4%75%1099$25k$48k47%1,276164 mi 37Mars Hill UniversityMars Hill, North Carolina69.3%68%—$20k$45k45%1,044247 mi 38Lees-McRae CollegeBanner Elk, North Carolina68.8%77%—$28k$43k42%873240 mi 39Greensboro CollegeGreensboro, North Carolina65.9%70%—$18k$47k46%708158 mi 40Barton CollegeWilson, North Carolina65.5%94%—$24k$48k46%98250 mi 41Methodist UniversityFayetteville, North Carolina65.1%75%1182$25k$48k44%1,44883 mi 42Guilford CollegeGreensboro, North Carolina64.9%80%1105$22k$48k46%1,001164 mi 43Brevard CollegeBrevard, North Carolina61.5%42%1060$24k$44k49%815215 mi 44Montreat CollegeMontreat, North Carolina58.9%69%—$27k$45k50%762230 mi 45North Carolina Wesleyan UniversityRocky Mount, North Carolina58.5%80%—$17k$46k42%1,21453 mi 46Gardner-Webb UniversityBoiling Springs, North Carolina55.3%77%1113$18k$48k55%1,856188 mi 47Shaw UniversityRaleigh, North Carolina51.6%80%—$17k$34k22%87591 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.