College Completion Rates: 4-Year vs 2-Year Colleges (2026 stats)
TL;DR
At the typical 4-year college, 63.3% of first-time, full-time students finish a bachelor's within six years. At 2-year community colleges the on-time-and-a-half rate is 33.5%, a gap of 29.9 percentage points, in EDsmart Data's enrollment-weighted analysis of 2,379 College Scorecard institutions. Certificate-focused trade schools finish 41.8% of students.
Key Facts
- 4-year college completion: 63.3%
- 2-year college completion: 33.5%
- Certificate school completion: 41.8%
- Highest state (4-year): Delaware (80.5%)
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College completion rates: 4-year vs 2-year vs certificate schools
Four-year colleges finish far more of their students
Our analysis finds 63.3% of full-time students at 4-year colleges graduate within 150% of normal time, versus 33.5% at 2-year colleges. Many community college students transfer before finishing, which this measure counts as non-completion.
Enrollment-weighted median of institution completion rates.
Completion rates by college type: public, private nonprofit, and for-profit
For-profit 2-year schools out-complete public community colleges
Among 4-year colleges, private nonprofits lead at 65.3%. Among 2-year colleges, for-profit schools finish 60.0% versus 33.4% at public community colleges, where more students attend part-time or transfer.
Enrollment-weighted medians by control of institution.
4-year vs 2-year college completion rates by state
| State | 4-year completion | 2-year completion | Gap (points) | 4-year colleges | 2-year colleges |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | 80.5% | — | — | 4 | 0 |
| Vermont | 78.6% | — | — | 8 | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 77.1% | 21.6% | 55.5 | 66 | 17 |
| District of Columbia | 75.5% | — | — | 9 | 0 |
| Iowa | 74.6% | 43.0% | 31.7 | 30 | 10 |
| Florida | 74.4% | 54.9% | 19.6 | 63 | 15 |
| Indiana | 73.8% | — | — | 45 | 2 |
| Rhode Island | 73.3% | — | — | 10 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 72.2% | 24.4% | 47.8 | 116 | 31 |
| Oregon | 70.1% | 18.4% | 51.7 | 22 | 11 |
| California | 69.2% | 39.8% | 29.4 | 124 | 84 |
| North Carolina | 69.0% | 34.5% | 34.5 | 56 | 32 |
| New York | 68.5% | 26.7% | 41.9 | 159 | 51 |
| Oklahoma | 68.2% | 28.4% | 39.8 | 22 | 12 |
| Maryland | 68.2% | 31.4% | 36.8 | 31 | 15 |
| New Jersey | 67.4% | 30.9% | 36.5 | 47 | 22 |
| Mississippi | 66.7% | 43.3% | 23.4 | 16 | 14 |
| Connecticut | 66.7% | — | — | 26 | 1 |
| South Carolina | 65.8% | 29.6% | 36.2 | 35 | 8 |
| Ohio | 65.5% | 37.2% | 28.3 | 73 | 10 |
| Michigan | 65.4% | 22.1% | 43.2 | 44 | 24 |
| Virginia | 65.3% | 33.1% | 32.3 | 49 | 8 |
| Washington | 64.6% | — | — | 25 | 1 |
| Hawaii | 64.3% | 31.4% | 32.9 | 7 | 6 |
| Alabama | 64.2% | 26.6% | 37.6 | 29 | 6 |
| Illinois | 64.0% | 30.9% | 33.1 | 58 | 18 |
| Wisconsin | 63.8% | — | — | 33 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 61.4% | — | — | 21 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 61.1% | 39.1% | 22.0 | 39 | 18 |
| Colorado | 61.0% | 33.5% | 27.6 | 19 | 5 |
| North Dakota | 60.5% | 54.7% | 5.8 | 9 | 5 |
| Idaho | 60.2% | 30.6% | 29.6 | 8 | 3 |
| South Dakota | 59.9% | 58.8% | 1.1 | 11 | 4 |
| Missouri | 57.9% | 38.3% | 19.6 | 51 | 13 |
| Nebraska | 57.7% | 29.3% | 28.4 | 19 | 7 |
| West Virginia | 57.2% | 33.3% | 23.8 | 20 | 11 |
| Montana | 57.1% | 33.3% | 23.8 | 9 | 8 |
| Kansas | 56.6% | 30.8% | 25.8 | 27 | 7 |
| Kentucky | 55.6% | — | — | 30 | 2 |
| Texas | 55.3% | 32.3% | 23.0 | 87 | 34 |
| Maine | 54.9% | 30.3% | 24.6 | 17 | 6 |
| New Mexico | 54.7% | 19.4% | 35.3 | 10 | 9 |
| Tennessee | 53.7% | 29.6% | 24.1 | 43 | 15 |
| Louisiana | 52.6% | 19.0% | 33.6 | 25 | 4 |
| Georgia | 52.2% | 22.1% | 30.0 | 54 | 5 |
| Nevada | 50.5% | — | — | 6 | 2 |
| Utah | 46.2% | — | — | 11 | 2 |
| Arizona | 43.5% | 67.3% | -23.8 | 18 | 5 |
| Puerto Rico | 42.9% | 47.4% | -4.6 | 37 | 4 |
| New Hampshire | 42.8% | 33.5% | 9.3 | 13 | 7 |
| Alaska | 29.7% | — | — | 3 | 1 |
| Guam | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Palau | — | — | — | 0 | 1 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Wyoming | — | 43.1% | — | 1 | 3 |
States need at least 3 institutions of a type to show a rate.
Top 25 4-year colleges by graduation rate (1,000+ students)
| College | State | Type | Completion rate | Undergraduates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Princeton University | NJ | Private nonprofit | 97.6% | 5,709 |
| 2. Harvard University | MA | Private nonprofit | 97.6% | 7,601 |
| 3. Duke University | NC | Private nonprofit | 96.8% | 6,442 |
| 4. University of Pennsylvania | PA | Private nonprofit | 96.5% | 10,650 |
| 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | Private nonprofit | 96.4% | 4,535 |
| 6. Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | Private nonprofit | 96.1% | 8,973 |
| 7. University of Chicago | IL | Private nonprofit | 95.9% | 7,569 |
| 8. Yale University | CT | Private nonprofit | 95.7% | 6,758 |
| 9. Brown University | RI | Private nonprofit | 95.7% | 7,226 |
| 10. University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Public | 95.6% | 17,597 |
| 11. Dartmouth College | NH | Private nonprofit | 95.5% | 4,541 |
| 12. Cornell University | NY | Private nonprofit | 95.4% | 15,995 |
| 13. Bowdoin College | ME | Private nonprofit | 95.3% | 1,873 |
| 14. University of Notre Dame | IN | Private nonprofit | 95.2% | 8,818 |
| 15. Northwestern University | IL | Private nonprofit | 95.1% | 9,201 |
| 16. Georgetown University | DC | Private nonprofit | 94.8% | 7,569 |
| 17. Rice University | TX | Private nonprofit | 94.6% | 4,776 |
| 18. Washington University in St Louis | MO | Private nonprofit | 94.3% | 7,857 |
| 19. Carnegie Mellon University | PA | Private nonprofit | 94.1% | 7,304 |
| 20. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | Public | 94.0% | 18,785 |
| 21. Amherst College | MA | Private nonprofit | 93.9% | 1,911 |
| 22. Washington and Lee University | VA | Private nonprofit | 93.9% | 1,881 |
| 23. Johns Hopkins University | MD | Private nonprofit | 93.8% | 5,693 |
| 24. Williams College | MA | Private nonprofit | 93.6% | 2,076 |
| 25. Vanderbilt University | TN | Private nonprofit | 93.5% | 7,208 |
Top 25 2-year colleges by completion rate (1,000+ students)
| College | State | Type | Completion rate | Undergraduates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. State Technical College of Missouri | MO | Public | 84.2% | 2,123 |
| 2. Universal Technical Institute-Dallas Fort Worth | TX | Private for-profit | 75.1% | 1,610 |
| 3. Lake Area Technical College | SD | Public | 73.1% | 1,812 |
| 4. Universal Technical Institute of California Inc | CA | Private for-profit | 72.2% | 1,553 |
| 5. Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology | PA | Public | 70.7% | 1,446 |
| 6. Universal Technical Institute of Arizona Inc | AZ | Private for-profit | 70.4% | 1,957 |
| 7. De Anza College | CA | Public | 67.7% | 15,264 |
| 8. Universal Technical Institute-Mooresville | NC | Private for-profit | 65.3% | 1,345 |
| 9. Universal Technical Institute of Northern California Inc | CA | Private for-profit | 64.5% | 1,214 |
| 10. Universal Technical Institute-Southern California | CA | Private for-profit | 62.7% | 1,701 |
| 11. Victor Valley College | CA | Public | 61.8% | 4,210 |
| 12. College of San Mateo | CA | Public | 60.8% | 7,977 |
| 13. Alexandria Technical & Community College | MN | Public | 60.0% | 1,533 |
| 14. Southeast Technical College | SD | Public | 58.8% | 2,310 |
| 15. New Mexico Junior College | NM | Public | 58.2% | 2,175 |
| 16. Dakota County Technical College | MN | Public | 57.7% | 2,168 |
| 17. North Central Missouri College | MO | Public | 57.6% | 1,286 |
| 18. Irvine Valley College | CA | Public | 57.1% | 10,286 |
| 19. Swedish Institute a College of Health Sciences | NY | Private for-profit | 56.6% | 1,227 |
| 20. St Paul's School of Nursing-Queens | NY | Private for-profit | 56.4% | 1,056 |
| 21. Northland Community and Technical College | MN | Public | 56.0% | 1,554 |
| 22. Southwest Mississippi Community College | MS | Public | 55.9% | 1,474 |
| 23. Northeast Community College | NE | Public | 55.8% | 2,387 |
| 24. Ultimate Medical Academy | FL | Private nonprofit | 54.9% | 8,932 |
| 25. North Dakota State College of Science | ND | Public | 54.7% | 1,909 |
What the data shows
The completion gap between 4-year and 2-year colleges is wide: 63.3% versus 33.5% in our analysis. Part of that gap is measurement. The federal rate follows only first-time, full-time students at their starting school, so a community college student who transfers and later earns a bachelor's degree counts as a non-completer.
Selectivity explains much of the 4-year spread. The top of the 4-year list is dominated by highly selective private colleges, while open-access regional publics finish far fewer students. For families, the school's own rate is a better guide than any national average.
Methodology
Completion rates are College Scorecard's 150%-of-normal-time rates for first-time, full-time students: six years for bachelor's programs at 4-year institutions, and three years (or 150% of program length) at less-than-4-year institutions. Part-time and transfer-in students are not in the cohort, and students who transfer out and finish elsewhere count as non-completers.
Group figures are medians across institutions weighted by undergraduate enrollment, so a large community college counts more than a small one.
Institution type follows Scorecard's predominant degree: 4-year colleges award mostly bachelor's degrees (code 3), 2-year colleges mostly associate degrees (2), and certificate schools mostly certificates (1). Top-25 lists exclude rates of exactly 100%, which usually reflect very small cohorts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the graduation rate at 4-year colleges?
The enrollment-weighted median is 63.3% of first-time, full-time students finishing within six years, based on College Scorecard data for 1,797 bachelor's-focused colleges.
What is the completion rate at community colleges?
About 33.5% of first-time, full-time students at 2-year colleges finish within 150% of normal time (three years for a two-year degree). Students who transfer to a 4-year college before finishing are counted as non-completers.
Why are 2-year completion rates so much lower?
Community colleges enroll more working, part-time, and first-generation students, and many students transfer or leave for jobs before earning a credential. The federal rate only follows first-time, full-time students at the school where they started.
Which state has the highest 4-year graduation rate?
Delaware has the highest enrollment-weighted 4-year completion rate at 80.5%; Alaska is lowest at 29.7%.
Data sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard institution and field-of-study files (latest release in our extract)