First-Year Persistence and Retention for Fall 2017 Cohort

Provides persistence and retention data for the Fall 2017 cohort. Of the 3.5 million students who enrolled in college for the first time in fall 2017, 74 percent or 2.6 million students persisted as of fall 2018. The overall first-year persistence rate has improved slightly, with a 2.2 percentage point gain between 2009 and 2017. New to this year’s report are the persistence rates for top five popular major fields in baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate programs.