Colleges with the Highest Retention Rates in the Southeast

Colleges with the Highest Retention Rates in the Southeast, ranked by first-year retention rate. Region: our Southeast grouping. Included states / district: AL FL GA KY MS NC SC TN VA WV. This ranks the named measure, not overall college quality. Four-year colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online-only schools are excluded. This page lists all 252 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

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1Strayer University-South CarolinaGreenville, South Carolina100.0%——$18k$40k17%1,868182 mi 2Strayer University-TennesseeNashville, Tennessee100.0%——$12k$40k0%1,784319 mi 3Georgia Institute of Technology-Main CampusAtlanta, Georgia98.1%14%1480$12k$103k94%18,785222 mi 4Duke UniversityDurham, North Carolina97.9%6%1548$30k$98k97%6,442111 mi 5University of FloridaGainesville, Florida97.7%24%1403$7k$72k91%35,62942 mi 6University of Virginia-Main CampusCharlottesville, Virginia97.5%17%1480$22k$87k96%17,59767 mi 7University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina96.6%15%1439$12k$72k91%20,752115 mi 8Washington and Lee UniversityLexington, Virginia96.6%14%1498$24k$95k94%1,881121 mi 9Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tennessee96.3%6%1549$16k$92k94%7,208380 mi 10Florida State UniversityTallahassee, Florida96.0%24%1361$11k$62k86%32,21224 mi 11Emory UniversityAtlanta, Georgia95.7%11%1520$23k$80k91%7,298219 mi 12Auburn UniversityAuburn, Alabama94.8%46%1345$24k$65k82%26,816151 mi 13Davidson CollegeDavidson, North Carolina94.6%13%1469$17k$81k91%1,867167 mi 14William & MaryWilliamsburg, Virginia94.6%34%1473$19k$73k89%7,0553 mi 15North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleigh, North Carolina94.5%42%1376$17k$69k85%27,37193 mi 16Spelman CollegeAtlanta, Georgia94.1%25%1220$39k$60k78%3,414222 mi 17University of GeorgiaAthens, Georgia94.0%38%1397$14k$69k90%32,137175 mi 18University of MiamiCoral Gables, Florida93.8%19%1415$37k$75k84%12,9132 mi 19Clemson UniversityClemson, South Carolina93.5%38%1353$22k$72k87%23,300187 mi 20Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityBlacksburg, Virginia93.1%55%1364$25k$82k86%30,923173 mi 21Samford UniversityBirmingham, Alabama92.9%82%1201$33k$58k77%4,206198 mi 22Wake Forest UniversityWinston-Salem, North Carolina92.6%22%1475$29k$78k89%5,485183 mi 23University of Central FloridaOrlando, Florida92.3%40%1269$10k$58k78%59,14623 mi 24Rhodes CollegeMemphis, Tennessee92.3%50%1362$29k$67k85%1,836326 mi 25University of South Carolina-ColumbiaColumbia, South Carolina92.2%60%1297$23k$62k79%29,820101 mi 26James Madison UniversityHarrisonburg, Virginia92.0%72%1256$23k$70k80%20,88882 mi 27The University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleKnoxville, Tennessee91.9%42%1311$19k$60k74%30,418294 mi 28Florida International UniversityMiami, Florida91.8%55%1163$9k$60k74%39,5088 mi 29University of South FloridaTampa, Florida91.3%43%1227$10k$58k77%37,2079 mi 30Wofford CollegeSpartanburg, South Carolina91.0%52%1296$19k$69k84%1,816178 mi 31University of RichmondUniversity of Richmond, Virginia90.8%22%1497$31k$76k85%2,98022 mi 32Furman UniversityGreenville, South Carolina90.6%43%1371$30k$69k79%2,379188 mi 33Elon UniversityElon, North Carolina89.8%66%1208$42k$75k84%6,452143 mi 34The University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, Alabama89.5%77%1285$22k$59k73%33,227173 mi 35Florida Agricultural and Mechanical UniversityTallahassee, Florida89.2%21%1107$14k$44k53%7,58223 mi 36Union UniversityJackson, Tennessee89.0%60%1256$27k$54k66%1,607345 mi 37The University of the SouthSewanee, Tennessee88.9%57%1344$28k$65k80%1,607324 mi 38University of West FloridaPensacola, Florida88.8%58%1138$9k$49k59%9,3302 mi 39University of North Carolina WilmingtonWilmington, North Carolina88.2%64%1287$20k$55k71%14,9223 mi 40Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona BeachDaytona Beach, Florida88.1%65%1257$41k$84k67%7,8604 mi 41Centre CollegeDanville, Kentucky87.5%54%1352$21k$66k81%1,400279 mi 42University of MississippiUniversity, Mississippi87.2%97%1184$13k$51k72%21,473266 mi 43Transylvania UniversityLexington, Kentucky87.1%87%1287$22k$55k71%1,005247 mi 44Belmont UniversityNashville, Tennessee86.9%95%1280$33k$56k71%7,137380 mi 45Morehouse CollegeAtlanta, Georgia86.9%44%1090$39k$53k59%2,844222 mi 46University of KentuckyLexington, Kentucky86.8%93%1215$19k$59k71%24,763249 mi 47Ringling College of Art and DesignSarasota, Florida86.4%70%—$58k$43k72%1,6621 mi 48Savannah College of Art and DesignSavannah, Georgia86.3%83%1173$49k$46k69%15,24311 mi 49George Mason UniversityFairfax, Virginia86.0%87%1274$18k$76k68%27,75212 mi 50Freed-Hardeman UniversityHenderson, Tennessee85.9%60%1109$22k$47k71%1,212327 mi 51Citadel Military College of South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina85.8%23%1208$21k$72k75%2,705< 1 mi 52The University of TampaTampa, Florida85.5%40%—$36k$59k64%10,5721 mi 53High Point UniversityHigh Point, North Carolina85.4%75%1288$39k$61k74%5,129165 mi 54Virginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmond, Virginia85.3%93%1137$23k$58k63%20,75318 mi 55Hampton UniversityHampton, Virginia85.3%62%969$25k$59k57%3,7271 mi 56Rollins CollegeWinter Park, Florida85.2%48%1271$35k$58k75%2,63132 mi 57University of North Carolina at CharlotteCharlotte, North Carolina85.0%80%1231$15k$57k69%24,453153 mi 58University of North FloridaJacksonville, Florida84.7%53%1153$10k$56k69%13,3597 mi 59Florida Atlantic UniversityBoca Raton, Florida84.5%66%1127$9k$57k63%23,7572 mi 60University of Mary WashingtonFredericksburg, Virginia84.4%80%1272$21k$61k66%3,5668 mi 61University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsville, Alabama84.3%69%1319$19k$62k64%6,591285 mi 62Randolph-Macon CollegeAshland, Virginia83.7%87%1095$28k$58k70%1,63931 mi 63Appalachian State UniversityBoone, North Carolina83.7%90%1214$17k$52k75%19,444236 mi 64Lipscomb UniversityNashville, Tennessee83.6%68%1256$25k$56k72%2,997378 mi 65Berry CollegeMount Berry, Georgia83.5%64%1220$22k$54k69%2,245268 mi 66West Virginia UniversityMorgantown, West Virginia83.4%89%1122$16k$56k65%17,385159 mi 67Asbury UniversityWilmore, Kentucky83.3%63%—$21k$42k65%1,420263 mi 68Florida Gulf Coast UniversityFort Myers, Florida83.2%63%1114$13k$55k57%13,8745 mi 69Southern Adventist UniversityCollegedale, Tennessee82.8%66%1129$24k$54k49%2,773297 mi 70East Carolina UniversityGreenville, North Carolina82.7%89%1180$16k$55k63%19,89618 mi 71Mississippi State UniversityMississippi State, Mississippi82.5%78%1219$18k$52k67%18,397193 mi 72Bob Jones UniversityGreenville, South Carolina82.5%——$17k$44k65%2,005183 mi 73Georgia College & State UniversityMilledgeville, Georgia82.3%78%1163$21k$58k64%5,947143 mi 74Lee UniversityCleveland, Tennessee82.3%71%1145$19k$43k63%2,617293 mi 75Mercer UniversityMacon, Georgia82.2%69%1271$24k$58k70%4,500157 mi 76College of CharlestonCharleston, South Carolina82.0%60%1247$19k$56k66%10,558< 1 mi 77Anderson UniversityAnderson, South Carolina81.9%55%1202$24k$42k66%3,183171 mi 78Shenandoah UniversityWinchester, Virginia81.7%77%—$30k$58k67%2,11661 mi 79University of LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky81.5%79%1150$18k$54k61%14,727248 mi 80Christopher Newport UniversityNewport News, Virginia81.2%86%1180$23k$61k72%4,3651 mi 81Virginia Military InstituteLexington, Virginia81.0%71%1244$17k$77k76%1,527120 mi 82Tuskegee UniversityTuskegee, Alabama80.7%49%1120$35k$50k55%2,630136 mi 83Liberty UniversityLynchburg, Virginia80.1%99%—$29k$45k65%50,012105 mi 84University of Alabama at BirminghamBirmingham, Alabama80.1%88%1258$19k$55k64%11,635201 mi 85Florida Southern CollegeLakeland, Florida80.0%64%1252$29k$55k71%2,65630 mi 86Florida Institute of TechnologyMelbourne, Florida80.0%58%1225$36k$43k64%3,4042 mi 87Georgia State UniversityAtlanta, Georgia79.9%55%1076$16k$47k53%26,623221 mi 88Longwood UniversityFarmville, Virginia79.8%90%1120$19k$52k61%3,01562 mi 89University of North AlabamaFlorence, Alabama79.7%87%—$12k$45k55%5,811282 mi 90Converse UniversitySpartanburg, South Carolina79.6%68%1138$23k$41k62%1,173178 mi 91Galen College of Nursing-LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky79.6%——$19k$61k61%4,801248 mi 92Middle Tennessee State UniversityMurfreesboro, Tennessee79.5%69%1121$13k$49k54%16,301364 mi 93Meredith CollegeRaleigh, North Carolina79.4%74%1204$22k$52k70%1,18894 mi 94Berea CollegeBerea, Kentucky79.2%19%1249$6k$43k58%1,513277 mi 95Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee, North Carolina79.1%82%1157$13k$49k60%10,024233 mi 96Ave Maria UniversityAve Maria, Florida78.9%41%—$25k$50k54%1,29824 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.