The college with the highest first-year retention rate in every state

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a first-year retention rate of 99%. Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Getting a student to choose a college is one thing. Getting them to come back for another year is just as important.Ranging from Ivy League universities to military academies, Business Insider calculated the college with the highest retention rate in each state.The first-year retention rate shows the proportion of students who return to their studies in the fall for their sophomore year. It's a metric colleges care about because it can indicate higher student satisfaction and strong academic support.Business Insider compiled each state's winner using provisional fall 2024 data from the Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).The retention rate covers full-time, first-time bachelor-seeking students who entered in fall 2023 and measures whether they returned for fall 2024.The cohort size is adjusted to account for any permitted exclusions, such as a student's death.Business Insider also limited the data to degree-granting institutions only and set a minimum cohort size of 100 to avoid very small cohorts inflating retention rates.Because the data is provisional, the figures could be revised and should not be considered final counts.Here are the colleges with the highest retention rate in every state. ALABAMA: Auburn University Auburn University had a first-year retention rate of 95%. Ray Tan/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 5,915Retention rate: 95% ALASKA: University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks had a first-year retention rate of 74%. pabradyphoto/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 451Retention rate: 74% ARIZONA: Arizona State University (Campus Immersion) Arizona State University Campus Immersion had an 87% first-year retention rate. GummyBone/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 13,867Retention rate: 87% ARKANSAS: University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas had a first-year retention rate of 86%. neiu20001/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 6,289Retention rate: 86% CALIFORNIA: Claremont McKenna College Claremont McKenna College had a first-year retention rate of 98%. Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 321Retention rate: 98% COLORADO: United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy had a first-year retention rate of 97%. sanfel/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,101Retention rate: 97% CONNECTICUT: United States Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy had a first-year retention rate of 99%. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 287Retention rate: 99% DELAWARE: University of Delaware The University of Delaware had a first-year retention rate of 92%. Kirkikis/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 4,190Retention rate: 92% FLORIDA: University of Florida The University of Florida had a first-year retention rate of 98%. Matt Pendleton Photography/iStock Adjusted first-year cohort: 6,726Retention rate: 98% GEORGIA: Georgia Institute of Technology (Main Campus) The Georgia Institute of Technology (Main Campus) had a first-year retention rate of 98%. CRobertson/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 3,751Retention rate: 98% HAWAII: University of Hawaii at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa had a first-year retention rate of 81%. hapabapa/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 2,868Retention rate: 81% IDAHO: The College of Idaho The College of Idaho is located in Caldwell, Idaho. Mike Worley/Getty Images/iStockphoto Adjusted first-year cohort: 292Retention rate: 82% ILLINOIS: University of Chicago The University of Chicago had a first-year retention rate of 99%. Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,618Retention rate: 99% INDIANA: University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame had a first-year retention rate of 99%. Joe Hendrickson/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 2,074Retention rate: 99% IOWA: Grinnell College Grinnell College had a first-year retention rate of 93%. Wolterk/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 457Retention rate: 93% KANSAS: University of Kansas The University of Kansas had a first-year retention rate of 86%. Wolterk/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 5,159Retention rate: 86% KENTUCKY: Centre College Centre College had a first-year retention rate of 88%. Courtesy of Centre College Adjusted first-year cohort: 360Retention rate: 88% LOUISIANA: Tulane University of Louisiana Tulane University of Louisiana had a first-year retention rate of 93%. Laser1987/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,866Retention rate: 93% MAINE: Bowdoin College Bowdoin College had a first-year retention rate of 97%. rossandgaffney/Getty Images/iStockphoto Adjusted first-year cohort: 504Retention rate: 97% MARYLAND: Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University had a first-year retention rate of 98%. Amy Sparwasser/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,413Retention rate: 98% MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a first-year retention rate of 99%. HABesen/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,090Retention rate: 99% MICHIGAN: Hillsdale College Hillsdale College had a first-year retention rate of 97%. Chris duMond/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 349Retention rate: 97% MINNESOTA: Carleton College Carleton College had a first-year retention rate of 96% Cynthia Shirk/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 538Retention rate: 96% MISSISSIPPI: University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi had a first-year retention rate of 87%. Gerald Zaffuts/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 5,185Retention rate: 87% MISSOURI: Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis had a first-year retention rate of 95%. JByard/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,823Retention rate: 95% MONTANA: Carroll College Carroll College had a first-year retention rate of 82%. GummyBone/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 273Retention rate: 82% NEBRASKA: Creighton University Creighton University had a first-year retention rate of 94%. Wolterk/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,043Retention rate: 94% NEVADA: University of Nevada-Reno The University of Nevada-Reno had a first-year retention rate of 80%. Wirestock/Getty Images/iStockphoto Adjusted first-year cohort: 3,388Retention rate: 80% NEW HAMPSHIRE: Dartmouth College Dartmouth College had a first-year retention rate of 98%. arlutz73/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,206Retention rate: 98% NEW JERSEY: Princeton University Princeton University had a first-year retention rate of 98%. Brian Logan/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,332Retention rate: 98% NEW MEXICO: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology New Mexico Tech is located in Socorro, New Mexico. Greg Meland/Getty Images/iStockphoto Adjusted first-year cohort: 222Retention rate: 77% NEW YORK: Columbia University in the City of New York Columbia University had a first-year retention rate of 98%. Form and Flora/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,498Retention rate: 98% NORTH CAROLINA: Duke University Duke University had a first-year retention rate of 98%. CRobertson/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,741Retention rate: 98% NORTH DAKOTA: University of Mary The University of Mary had a first-year retention rate of 84%. Courtesy of Mike McCleary, University of Mary Adjusted first-year cohort: 559Retention rate: 84% OHIO: Ohio State University (Main Campus) Ohio State University (Main Campus) had a first-year retention rate of 94%. BSPollard/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 8,028Retention rate: 94% OKLAHOMA: University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa had a first-year retention rate of 92%. Courtesy of University of Tulsa Adjusted first-year cohort: 558Retention rate: 92% OREGON: Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College had a first-year retention rate of 89%. Courtesy of Lewis & Clarke College Adjusted first-year cohort: 536Retention rate: 89% PENNSYLVANIA: University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania had a first-year retention rate of 99%. Dmitry Vinogradov/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 2,415Retention rate: 99% RHODE ISLAND: Brown University Brown University had a first-year retention rate of 99%. tupungato/Getty Images/iStockphoto Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,692Retention rate: 99% SOUTH CAROLINA: Clemson University Clemson University had a first-year retention rate of 93%. CRobertson/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 4,488Retention rate: 93% SOUTH DAKOTA: Augustana University Augustana University had a first-year retention rate of 86%. Wirestock/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 454Retention rate: 86% TENNESSEE: Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University had a first-year retention rate of 96%. CRobertson/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,612Retention rate: 96% TEXAS: Rice University Rice University had a first-year retention rate of 97%. JHVEPhoto/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,118Retention rate: 97% UTAH: Brigham Young University Brigham Young University had a first-year retention rate of 91%. CRobertson/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 3,367Retention rate: 91% VERMONT: Middlebury College Middlebury College had a first-year retention rate of 94%. Courtesy of Middlebury College Adjusted first-year cohort: 615Retention rate: 94% VIRGINIA: University of Virginia (Main Campus) The University of Virginia (Main Campus) had a first-year retention rate of 98%. Leonid Andronov/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 3,965Retention rate: 98% WASHINGTON: University of Washington (Seattle campus) The University of Washington (Seattle Campus) had a first-year retention rate of 95%. gmc3101/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 6,928Retention rate: 95% WEST VIRGINIA: West Virginia University West Virginia University had a first-year retention rate of 83%. BackyardProduction/Getty Images/iStockphoto Adjusted first-year cohort: 4,370Retention rate: 83% WISCONSIN: University of Wisconsin-Madison The University of Wisconsin-Madison had a first-year retention rate of 96%. GummyBone/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 7,937Retention rate: 96% WYOMING: University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming had a first-year retention rate of 80%. GummyBone/Getty Images Adjusted first-year cohort: 1,422Retention rate: 80% Read next Roya is a reporter on Business Insider's Editorial Partnerships team. She is based in London. Before joining Business Insider, she worked as a reporter at financial newswire Alliance News and was an intern at The Wall Street Journal. Roya graduated from City St George's, University of London with an MA in International Journalism. College