College Completion Rates: 4-Year vs 2-Year Colleges (2026 stats)
TL;DR
At the typical 4-year college, 62.8% 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 34.1%, a gap of 28.7 percentage points, in EDsmart Data's enrollment-weighted analysis of 2,364 College Scorecard institutions. Certificate-focused trade schools finish 44.9% of students.
Key Facts
- 4-year college completion: 62.8%
- 2-year college completion: 34.1%
- Certificate school completion: 44.9%
- Highest state (4-year): Vermont (81.2%)
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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 62.8% of full-time students at 4-year colleges graduate within 150% of normal time, versus 34.1% 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 63.9%. Among 2-year colleges, for-profit schools finish 67.6% versus 33.7% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont | 81.2% | — | — | 8 | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 81.0% | 25.0% | 56.0 | 66 | 16 |
| Delaware | 78.3% | — | — | 4 | 0 |
| Florida | 77.6% | 55.0% | 22.6 | 65 | 13 |
| Iowa | 75.8% | 47.2% | 28.6 | 29 | 10 |
| Indiana | 74.8% | — | — | 44 | 2 |
| District of Columbia | 74.8% | — | — | 8 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania | 72.6% | 26.2% | 46.4 | 116 | 30 |
| Rhode Island | 72.3% | — | — | 11 | 1 |
| South Carolina | 71.3% | 32.5% | 38.8 | 35 | 9 |
| New Jersey | 69.0% | 30.9% | 38.1 | 46 | 22 |
| Oklahoma | 68.9% | 34.1% | 34.8 | 22 | 12 |
| Mississippi | 68.6% | 44.7% | 23.9 | 15 | 14 |
| New York | 68.3% | 27.2% | 41.1 | 157 | 51 |
| North Carolina | 68.2% | 37.7% | 30.5 | 57 | 32 |
| California | 67.9% | 41.0% | 27.0 | 125 | 81 |
| Oregon | 67.6% | 19.4% | 48.2 | 23 | 11 |
| Arkansas | 66.4% | — | — | 21 | 1 |
| Ohio | 66.2% | 31.9% | 34.3 | 73 | 10 |
| Connecticut | 65.5% | — | — | 26 | 1 |
| Virginia | 64.7% | 34.9% | 29.7 | 49 | 9 |
| Michigan | 64.4% | 24.4% | 40.0 | 43 | 24 |
| Minnesota | 63.8% | 42.0% | 21.8 | 40 | 18 |
| Washington | 62.8% | — | — | 26 | 1 |
| Alabama | 62.5% | 24.2% | 38.3 | 27 | 6 |
| Wisconsin | 62.0% | — | — | 33 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 61.6% | 33.3% | 28.3 | 7 | 6 |
| Illinois | 61.5% | 32.8% | 28.7 | 59 | 18 |
| Maryland | 61.3% | 25.9% | 35.3 | 31 | 15 |
| North Dakota | 61.0% | 53.8% | 7.2 | 9 | 5 |
| Nebraska | 60.5% | 32.3% | 28.2 | 19 | 7 |
| Idaho | 60.4% | — | — | 8 | 1 |
| West Virginia | 60.1% | 30.4% | 29.7 | 18 | 11 |
| South Dakota | 59.9% | 61.1% | -1.2 | 11 | 4 |
| Montana | 59.3% | 38.7% | 20.6 | 9 | 8 |
| Missouri | 59.1% | 39.4% | 19.7 | 51 | 13 |
| Maine | 57.3% | 31.4% | 25.8 | 17 | 6 |
| Kansas | 57.3% | 33.6% | 23.7 | 26 | 7 |
| Kentucky | 55.9% | — | — | 30 | 2 |
| Tennessee | 55.8% | 34.1% | 21.7 | 43 | 15 |
| Texas | 54.9% | 30.2% | 24.8 | 89 | 33 |
| Arizona | 54.2% | 68.4% | -14.2 | 17 | 5 |
| New Mexico | 53.6% | 17.2% | 36.4 | 10 | 9 |
| Louisiana | 52.1% | 19.9% | 32.2 | 25 | 4 |
| Nevada | 51.7% | — | — | 6 | 2 |
| Utah | 50.4% | — | — | 11 | 2 |
| Georgia | 50.1% | 23.1% | 27.0 | 52 | 5 |
| Colorado | 49.2% | 66.7% | -17.4 | 20 | 4 |
| Puerto Rico | 42.1% | 49.7% | -7.5 | 36 | 4 |
| New Hampshire | 42.1% | 39.9% | 2.2 | 13 | 7 |
| Alaska | 30.7% | — | — | 3 | 1 |
| Guam | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Palau | — | — | — | 0 | 1 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Wyoming | — | — | — | 1 | 2 |
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 | 97.4% | 5,709 |
| 2. Harvard University | MA | Private nonprofit | 97.1% | 7,601 |
| 3. University of Pennsylvania | PA | Private nonprofit | 96.9% | 10,650 |
| 4. Yale University | CT | Private nonprofit | 96.3% | 6,758 |
| 5. Duke University | NC | Private nonprofit | 96.1% | 6,442 |
| 6. Northwestern University | IL | Private nonprofit | 96.1% | 9,201 |
| 7. Washington and Lee University | VA | Private nonprofit | 95.9% | 1,881 |
| 8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | Private nonprofit | 95.7% | 4,535 |
| 9. Brown University | RI | Private nonprofit | 95.6% | 7,226 |
| 10. University of Notre Dame | IN | Private nonprofit | 95.4% | 8,818 |
| 11. Rice University | TX | Private nonprofit | 95.3% | 4,776 |
| 12. Dartmouth College | NH | Private nonprofit | 95.3% | 4,541 |
| 13. Williams College | MA | Private nonprofit | 95.2% | 2,076 |
| 14. Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | Private nonprofit | 95.2% | 8,973 |
| 15. University of Chicago | IL | Private nonprofit | 95.0% | 7,569 |
| 16. United States Coast Guard Academy | CT | Public | 94.8% | 1,108 |
| 17. Cornell University | NY | Private nonprofit | 94.5% | 15,995 |
| 18. University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Public | 94.4% | 17,597 |
| 19. Carnegie Mellon University | PA | Private nonprofit | 94.3% | 7,304 |
| 20. Georgetown University | DC | Private nonprofit | 94.3% | 7,569 |
| 21. University of California-Berkeley | CA | Public | 93.7% | 33,068 |
| 22. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | Public | 93.7% | 18,785 |
| 23. Tufts University | MA | Private nonprofit | 93.6% | 7,061 |
| 24. Johns Hopkins University | MD | Private nonprofit | 93.4% | 5,693 |
| 25. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | Public | 93.2% | 34,177 |
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 | 85.4% | 2,123 |
| 2. Swedish Institute a College of Health Sciences | NY | Private for-profit | 79.0% | 1,227 |
| 3. Universal Technical Institute of California Inc | CA | Private for-profit | 78.8% | 1,553 |
| 4. Universal Technical Institute-Dallas Fort Worth | TX | Private for-profit | 78.4% | 1,610 |
| 5. Lake Area Technical College | SD | Public | 75.6% | 1,812 |
| 6. Universal Technical Institute of Arizona Inc | AZ | Private for-profit | 74.6% | 1,957 |
| 7. Universal Technical Institute of Northern California Inc | CA | Private for-profit | 72.6% | 1,214 |
| 8. Universal Technical Institute-Mooresville | NC | Private for-profit | 70.2% | 1,345 |
| 9. Universal Technical Institute-Southern California | CA | Private for-profit | 67.6% | 1,701 |
| 10. Alexandria Technical & Community College | MN | Public | 65.4% | 1,533 |
| 11. Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology | PA | Public | 63.5% | 1,446 |
| 12. Southeast Technical College | SD | Public | 61.1% | 2,310 |
| 13. Itawamba Community College | MS | Public | 59.5% | 4,167 |
| 14. Copiah-Lincoln Community College | MS | Public | 58.3% | 1,922 |
| 15. Irvine Valley College | CA | Public | 57.7% | 10,286 |
| 16. Ridgewater College | MN | Public | 57.5% | 2,162 |
| 17. Southwest Mississippi Community College | MS | Public | 57.0% | 1,474 |
| 18. North Central Missouri College | MO | Public | 56.2% | 1,286 |
| 19. Lake Tahoe Community College | CA | Public | 56.1% | 3,660 |
| 20. Central Lakes College-Brainerd | MN | Public | 55.9% | 1,614 |
| 21. Ohlone College | CA | Public | 55.9% | 7,099 |
| 22. Northeast Iowa Community College | IA | Public | 55.2% | 1,697 |
| 23. Northeast Community College | NE | Public | 55.1% | 2,387 |
| 24. Ultimate Medical Academy | FL | Private nonprofit | 55.0% | 8,932 |
| 25. Texarkana College | TX | Public | 54.9% | 1,502 |
What the data shows
The completion gap between 4-year and 2-year colleges is wide: 62.8% versus 34.1% 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 62.8% of first-time, full-time students finishing within six years, based on College Scorecard data for 1,792 bachelor's-focused colleges.
What is the completion rate at community colleges?
About 34.1% 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?
Vermont has the highest enrollment-weighted 4-year completion rate at 81.2%; Alaska is lowest at 30.7%.
Data sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard institution and field-of-study files (latest release in our extract)