Retention Rates Lower at Technical Colleges than Liberal Arts Colleges

Retention rates measure the percent of first-time, first-year undergraduate students who continue at the school the next year, indicating student satisfaction and the ability to handle their schools’ academic environment. The average retention rate of the top 20 liberal arts schools is 97% while that of the top 20 technical colleges is 89%. This rate is especially important at technical schools providing specialized training (usually in STEM fields) where students may be forced to drop out or transfer if they want to switch to a liberal arts major. High retention rates at these technical schools indicate strong student support, high quality of teaching, and student confidence to complete their STEM degree. Among technical schools, the Open Educational Database dataset placed Georgia Institute of Technology and Worcester Polytechnic Institute at the top of the list.

Ranking:

Retention Rate Rank	US News Rank 2020	School	Retention Rate
20	29	Georgia Institute of Technology	97%
34	64	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	96%
47	54	Colorado School of Mines	94%
50	74	Stevens Institute of Technology	94%
54	74	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	94%
56	NA	California Polytechnic State University – SLO	93%
61	48	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	93%
63	NA	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	93%
119	NA	California State Polytechnic University – Pomona	89%
130	104	Rochester Institute of Technology	89%
148	NA	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	88%
161	117	Illinois Institute of Technology	87%
166	147	Michigan Technological University	87%
169	179	Missouri University of Science and Technology	87%
178	NA	Milwaukee School of Engineering	87%