High school seniors choosing the right college they will apply to do not always consider a very important factor—which public and private college/universities have the best graduation rates.
Here are some interesting statistics to think about as you narrow down your college lists.
4-year public colleges that have the best ranking for graduating students in a normal time period, 6 years:
1. U. of Virginia, main campus 93.9%
2. College of William and Mary 90.7%
3. U. of California at Berkeley 90.5%
4. U.S. Naval Academy 90.4%
5. U. of California at Los Angeles 90.0%
6. U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor 89.5%
7. U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 89.0%
8. Pennsylvania State U. at University Park 86.7%
9. College of New Jersey 86.6%
10. U. of California at San Diego 85.3%
Three of the ten 4-year colleges with the best graduation rates are in the University of California sysyetm.
4-year private colleges:
1. Harvard U. 97.4%
2. Yale U. 96.6%
3. Stanford U. 96.1%
4. U. of Notre Dame 95.9%
5. U. of Pennsylvania 95.8%
6. Princeton U. 95.5%
7. Williams College 95.3%
8. Brown U. 95.2%
9. Dartmouth College 95.0%
10. Duke U. 94.4%
Six of the best ranked private schools are Ivy League schools.
The best 2-year colleges, both private and public, which have the best ranking for graduating students within a 3-year time period are
1. Lake Area Technical Institute (S.D.) 68.7% – public
2. De Anza College (Calif.) 59.7% – public
3. Northwest Louisiana Technical College (La.) 57.6% – public
4. Alexandria Technical & Community College (Minn.) 55.9% – public
5. Rend Lake College (Ill.) 53.7% – private
6. WyoTech-Blairsville (Pa.) 85.1% – private
7. Anamarc College-El Paso (Tex.) 83.6% – private
8. Pennco Tech-Bristol (Pa.) 83.4% – private
9. Kaplan College-Vista (Calif.) 80.3% – private
10. WyoTech-Laramie (Wyo.) 80.1% – private
Graduating sooner saves money and headaches. Make your college choice work for you.
