A new report shows steady momentum in college student retention and persistence rates, with some groups of students seeing especially encouraging gains, according to a new report.gettyMore than 77% of the over 2.6 million students who entered college in the fall of 2024 returned to school for a second year, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. That persistence rate (77.1%) representsa slight gain over the prior year’s rate of 76.8%. NSCRC’s 2026 Persistence and Retention Report tracks two measures of how many students remain enrolled in college after their first semester. Persistence rates are defined as the percentages of students who stay enrolled either at their original college or a different one for their second semester and also for the next fall. Retention rates, the second metric, are defined as the percentages of students staying enrolled at their starting institution, for the same two milestones. This year’s report found particularly good outcomes for Black and Hispanic students, who saw decade-high rates at which they returned to college for the next fall. Hispanic persistence reached 74.5%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points over the prior year; while Hispanic retention climbed to 66.9%, a 1.4 percentage point increase over the previous year. Persistence for Black students hit 70.0%, a 1.4 percentage point year-over-year gain; while Black retention reached 59.6%, a 1.0 percentage point gain compared to the prior year.Native American freshmen who entered college in fall 2024 also showed notable one-year gains in second fall persistence (65.7% + 1.1pp) and retention (56.5%, +1.1pp). “Persistence and retention are early indicators of whether students are staying connected to college after entry,” said Matthew Holsapple, senior director of research at the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in a news release. “This year’s results show steady first-year momentum overall, while some groups of students are seeing especially encouraging gains.” MORE FOR YOUTransfer Rates Remain LowMost (83.2%) fall 2024 freshmen were still enrolled at their starting institution in spring 2025. Only 2.6% continued their enrollment at another institution in the spring term. A year after beginning college, 69.1% of the cohort were still enrolled at their starting institution in fall 2025, while 8% had transferred to another institution. Part-time Freshmen See GainsFull-time students saw substantially stronger retention and persistence rates than part-timers, which has historically been the case. But part-time students posted noteworthy improvements. Among part-timers who entered college in fall 2024, 54.1% returned to school the next fall; that was a decade-high rate, and it represented a 1.3 percentage point increase over the fall 2023 cohort. Persistence and retention rates for part-time students increased in all sectors, with the largest increases occurring at four-year institutions.Differences Among MajorsAmong starting fall 2024 bachelor’s degree students in the top ten major fields, those majoring in Engineering persisted into a second year of study at the highest rate (93.1%), while those in Computer Science persisted at the lowest rate (85.0%).Among associate degree students in the most popular majors, those in Biology achieved the highest second second persistence rate (74.1%), while those in Security and Protective Services had the lowest (57.8%). Starting certificate-seekers in Liberal Arts had the highest persistence rate into their second fall (64.9%), while those in Security and Protective Services had the lowest (54.0%).About the National Student Clearinghouse Research CenterThe NSCRC is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit organization founded in 1993. It collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations to gather accurate longitudinal data that can be used to guide educational policy decisions. NSCRC analyzes data from 3,600 postsecondary institutions, which represented 97% of the nation’s postsecondary enrollment in Title IV degree-granting institutions in the U.S., as of 2020.​