First-year Persistence and Retention Rates Reach 10-Year High

Last year, the percentage of college freshmen who returned for their second year marked a 10-year high, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s latest Persistence and Retention report.

Of the students who started college in the fall of 2022, 76.5% returned in the fall of 2023 — a persistence rate increase of 0.8 percentage points. The national retention rate also rose one percentage point to 68.2%. Persistence refers to students returning to college at any institution for a second year, while retention captures return to the same institution.

“While there is still much room for further improvement, these findings are great news for students and institutions alike, and another sign that the struggles of students who enrolled during the pandemic are behind us. First-year persistence and retention are strong early indicators for students staying enrolled throughout their program of study and eventually completing college,” said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Other key report highlights include:

• Community colleges have seen the highest gains in retention rates over the last decade — rising 3.7 percentage points from 51.3% for those who started in the fall 2013 term to 55.0% for fall 2022 starters.
• Public 4-year institutions have also seen large gains in retention rates since 2013, with the fall 2022 entering cohort’s 78.0% retention rate standing 3.1 points higher than the rate for fall 2013 entering students.
• Since 2018, public 4-year institutions have consistently surpassed their private nonprofit 4-year peers in retaining full-time students, with a 1.7 pp higher rate for the 2022 cohort (Public 4-year: 80.9%; Private nonprofit 4-year: 79.2%).
• Institutions continue to retain Hispanic, Black, and Native American students at rates significantly below the national rate (63.6%, 56.6%, and 52.8%, respectively, compared to 68.2% nationally).

View the complete Persistence and Retention report series, which examines first-year persistence and retention rates for first-time college students.

“While there is still much room for further improvement, these findings are great news for students and institutions alike, and another sign that the struggles of students who enrolled during the pandemic are behind us. First-year persistence and retention are strong early indicators for students staying enrolled throughout their program of study and eventually completing college.”

Doug Shapiro
Executive Director, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

Additional Resources:

• Read the Persistence and Retention Report
• Read the press release
• Visit our Research Center