The best completion rate among two-year colleges that confer predominantly associate degrees was at Oxford College of Emory University, a liberal-arts-focused, small-town campus where students earn associate degrees before going on to pursue bachelor’s degrees on Emory’s main campus. The second-best rate was at the for-profit Swedish Institute-College of Health Sciences, in New York, which offers associate degrees in massage therapy, nursing, and other health professions. Students at two-year public institutions were more likely than those enrolled at colleges in other sectors to stay enrolled at the first institution beyond the normal completion period. Students at for-profit colleges were the least likely to transfer out.
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Public institutions
| 1. | Lake Area Technical Institute | 657 | 467 | 71.1% | 19.2% | 51.9% | 6.1% | 2.4% | 20.4% |
| 2. | Mitchell Technical Institute | 371 | 257 | 69.3% | 21.0% | 48.2% | 5.1% | 2.2% | 23.5% |
| 3. | Frontier Community College | 67 | 44 | 65.7% | 23.9% | 41.8% | 19.4% | 3.0% | 11.9% |
| 4. | State Technical College of Missouri | 485 | 314 | 64.7% | 11.1% | 53.6% | 3.5% | 0.4% | 31.3% |
| 5. | De Anza College | 2,510 | 1,537 | 61.2% | 0.1% | 61.2% | 8.6% | 8.7% | 21.5% |
| 6. | Alexandria Technical and Community College | 508 | 310 | 61.0% | 8.7% | 52.4% | 13.6% | 2.0% | 23.4% |
| 7. | Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology | 402 | 244 | 60.7% | 8.2% | 52.5% | - | 1.7% | 37.6% |
| 8. | Northwest Iowa Community College | 226 | 129 | 57.1% | 24.3% | 32.7% | 8.0% | 2.2% | 32.7% |
| 9. | Wabash Valley College | 260 | 145 | 55.8% | 5.8% | 50.0% | 19.2% | 2.3% | 22.7% |
| 10. | Lincoln Trail College | 158 | 87 | 55.1% | 9.5% | 45.6% | 28.5% | 0.6% | 15.8% |
| 11. | Carl Albert State College | 608 | 330 | 54.3% | 0.0% | 54.3% | 11.7% | 7.6% | 26.5% |
| 12. | Northeast Community College | 749 | 397 | 53.0% | 3.6% | 49.4% | 13.5% | 6.1% | 27.4% |
| 13. | Spoon River College | 345 | 175 | 50.7% | 3.5% | 47.2% | 16.8% | 4.9% | 27.5% |
| 14. | Rend Lake College | 354 | 179 | 50.6% | 9.3% | 41.2% | 18.6% | 2.5% | 28.2% |
| 15. | North Dakota State College of Science | 743 | 374 | 50.3% | 1.9% | 48.5% | 20.7% | 1.1% | 27.9% |
| 16. | Patrick Henry Community College | 541 | 271 | 50.1% | 4.8% | 45.3% | 7.8% | 5.7% | 36.4% |
| 17. | Olney Central College | 216 | 106 | 49.1% | 11.6% | 37.5% | 27.8% | 1.4% | 21.8% |
| 18. | Iowa Lakes Community College | 410 | 195 | 47.6% | 5.4% | 42.2% | - | 2.2% | 50.2% |
| 19. | Northwest Kansas Technical College | 215 | 102 | 47.4% | 17.7% | 29.8% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 32.6% |
| 20. | Lake Region State College | 186 | 88 | 47.3% | 3.2% | 44.1% | - | 1.1% | 51.6% |
| 21. | Bates Technical College | 158 | 74 | 46.8% | 18.4% | 28.5% | 10.8% | 2.5% | 39.9% |
| 22. | North Florida Community College | 168 | 78 | 46.4% | 14.3% | 32.1% | 11.3% | 11.3% | 31.0% |
| 23. | Lakeshore Technical College | 220 | 102 | 46.4% | 20.5% | 25.9% | 7.7% | 8.2% | 37.7% |
| 24. | Colby Community College | 272 | 126 | 46.3% | 4.4% | 41.9% | 21.7% | 2.9% | 29.0% |
| 25. | Arkansas State U. at Mountain Home | 224 | 103 | 46.0% | 17.4% | 28.6% | 30.4% | 4.9% | 18.8% |
| | Over all for 762 institutions | 598,294 | 138,806 | 23.2% | 2.8% | 20.4% | 17.7% | 14.7% | 43.8% |
Private nonprofit institutions
| 1. | Oxford College of Emory U. | 498 | 459 | 92.2% | 0.0% | 92.2% | - | 0.4% | 7.4% |
| 2. | Rosedale Technical Institute | 111 | 91 | 82.0% | 0.0% | 82.0% | - | 4.5% | 13.5% |
| 3. | Perry Technical Institute (Wash.) | 313 | 253 | 80.8% | 32.6% | 48.2% | - | 0.6% | 18.5% |
| 4. | Delaware College of Art and Design | 87 | 62 | 71.3% | 0.0% | 71.3% | - | 2.3% | 26.4% |
| 5. | Johnson College | 151 | 107 | 70.9% | 10.6% | 60.3% | - | 0.7% | 28.5% |
| 6. | American Academy of Dramatic Arts at New York | 99 | 67 | 67.7% | 0.0% | 67.7% | 32.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 7. | Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics | 106 | 70 | 66.0% | 0.0% | 66.0% | - | 0.0% | 34.0% |
| 8. | Gupton Jones College of Funeral Service | 118 | 74 | 62.7% | 0.0% | 62.7% | - | 0.0% | 37.3% |
| 9. | Wentworth Military Academy and Junior College | 180 | 87 | 48.3% | 0.0% | 48.3% | - | 3.9% | 47.8% |
| 10. | Spartanburg Methodist College | 465 | 185 | 39.8% | 0.0% | 39.8% | 41.9% | 0.0% | 18.3% |
| | Over all for 20 institutions | 4,496 | 2,071 | 46.1% | 3.0% | 43.0% | 33.6% | 3.5% | 33.0% |
For-profit institutions
| 1. | Swedish Institute-College of Health Sciences | 136 | 124 | 91.2% | 0.0% | 91.2% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 8.1% |
| 2. | Triangle Tech at Greensburg (Pa.) | 81 | 70 | 86.4% | 0.0% | 86.4% | - | 0.0% | 13.6% |
| 3. | Douglas Education Center | 71 | 58 | 81.7% | 18.3% | 63.4% | - | 0.0% | 18.3% |
| 4. | Wood Tobe-Coburn School | 189 | 153 | 81.0% | 14.8% | 66.1% | - | 0.0% | 19.0% |
| 5. | King’s College (N.C.) | 210 | 169 | 80.5% | 28.6% | 51.9% | - | 0.0% | 19.5% |
| 6. | Triangle Tech at DuBois (Pa.) | 80 | 64 | 80.0% | 0.0% | 80.0% | - | 0.0% | 20.0% |
| 7. | International Business College at Indianapolis | 156 | 119 | 76.3% | 10.9% | 65.4% | - | 0.0% | 23.7% |
| 8. | Bradford School (Pa.) | 193 | 144 | 74.6% | 9.3% | 65.3% | - | 0.0% | 25.4% |
| 9. | Antonelli Institute of Art and Photography | 98 | 71 | 72.4% | 0.0% | 72.4% | 3.1% | 0.0% | 24.5% |
| 10. | IBMC College | 222 | 159 | 71.6% | 16.7% | 55.0% | 1.8% | 0.0% | 26.6% |
| | Over all for 74 institutions | 18,366 | 9,152 | 49.8% | 12.0% | 37.8% | 2.6% | 2.3% | 46.3% |
Note: Only degree-granting U.S. two-year colleges eligible to participate in Title IV federal financial-aid programs, with at least 50 students in the degree-seeking cohort, are included. Institutions in which more than half of completing students finished programs of less than two years’ duration were excluded from the analysis and from the overall figures for each sector. Graduation rates reflect the percentage of first-time, full-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students who entered in 2013 and completed an associate degree or earned a certificate at the same institution within 150 percent of the normal time to completion for that program. Students pursuing two-year degrees, for example, counted as graduating if they had completed the program in three years (by August 31, 2016). Students who transferred and then graduated from another institution are not counted in the data as having graduated. Hyphens indicate no data were reported. Reporting of transfer rates was optional for some institutions. Nonreporting institutions were excluded from the calculation of the median transfer rate. Cohorts were adjusted to exclude students who died, were permanently disabled, or left to serve in the military or with a foreign-aid agency or an official church mission. Percentages are rounded, but ranks are ordered on the basis of unrounded figures. Percentages may not add to 100 because of rounding. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data