Community Colleges With the Highest Graduation Rates
Community colleges serve many part-time and working students, so graduation rates look lower than at four-year schools. This ranking sorts two-year colleges by the share of first-time, full-time students who complete within 150% of normal time, which is three years.
We ranked 423 two-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates and a reported rate, and show the top 50. The median is 33%, the highest is 100% and the school in 50th place is at 47%. New Professions Technical Institute ranks first, and California has the most entries with 8. The median net price across qualifying schools is $8,027.
Several leaders are technical or career schools with structured programs, which complete faster than general transfer programs. The rate also misses students who transfer to a four-year school before completing, so it understates the success of transfer-oriented colleges.
If you are a part-time or working student, ask each college for its part-time completion and transfer figures, since those students make up much of the enrollment but are left out of this rate.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 2-year colleges
- Ranked by graduation rate, highest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported graduation rate value (schools without one are not ranked)
- Data period
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Retention: first-time, full-time students from fall 2023 who returned the next fall.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 423 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | New Professions Technical Institute Miami, FL For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 100% | 100% | $50,756 | $31,999 | 514 |
| 2 | State Technical College of Missouri Linn, MO Public · 2-year · Open admission | 82% | 90% | $15,190 | $58,407 | 2,123 |
| 3 | AMG School of Nursing Brooklyn, NY For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 76% | 84% | $34,613 | $77,330 | 552 |
| 4 | New Castle School of Trades New Castle, PA For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 75% | 79% | $8,361 | $50,940 | 700 |
| 5 | Laurel Technical Institute (PA) Uniontown, PA For-profit · 2-year | 74% | 77% | $7,825 | $34,469 | 515 |
| 6 | Mitchell Technical College Mitchell, SD Public · 2-year · Open admission | 74% | 84% | $13,460 | $54,865 | 990 |
| 7 | Jones Technical Institute Jacksonville, FL Private nonprofit · 2-year · Open admission | 71% | 65% | $25,462 | $37,942 | 659 |
| 8 | Asher College Sacramento, CA For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 70% | 32% | $35,499 | $46,572 | 649 |
| 9 | Lake Area Technical College Watertown, SD Public · 2-year · Open admission | 69% | 82% | $15,979 | $49,488 | 1,812 |
| 10 | Universal Technical Institute of Arizona Inc Avondale, AZ For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 67% | 83% | $30,451 | $58,404 | 1,957 |
| 11 | Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology Lancaster, PA Public · 2-year | 65% | 77% | $14,104 | $57,788 | 1,446 |
| 12 | Swedish Institute a College of Health Sciences New York, NY For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 60% | 19% | $29,688 | $47,162 | 1,227 |
| 13 | Alexandria Technical & Community College Alexandria, MN Public · 2-year · Open admission | 60% | 75% | $13,691 | $59,377 | 1,533 |
| 14 | Eastwick College-Nutley Nutley, NJ For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 60% | 74% | $17,206 | $46,087 | 618 |
| 15 | College of San Mateo San Mateo, CA Public · 2-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | 59% | 75% | $536 | $69,861 | 7,977 |
| 16 | Midwestern Career College Chicago, IL For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 58% | 74% | $20,462 | $46,684 | 887 |
| 17 | Irvine Valley College Irvine, CA Public · 2-year · Open admission | 57% | 78% | $2,090 | $55,055 | 10,286 |
| 18 | ITI Technical College Baton Rouge, LA For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 57% | 67% | $20,850 | $67,004 | 555 |
| 19 | North Central Missouri College Trenton, MO Public · 2-year · Open admission | 57% | 69% | $13,626 | $52,845 | 1,286 |
| 20 | Northwest Iowa Community College Sheldon, IA Public · 2-year · Open admission | 57% | 71% | $14,800 | $60,885 | 864 |
| 21 | Western Texas College Snyder, TX Public · 2-year · Open admission | 56% | 71% | $3,562 | $47,279 | 599 |
| 22 | Northeast Community College Norfolk, NE Public · 2-year · Open admission | 56% | 73% | $8,544 | $49,390 | 2,387 |
| 23 | Southeast Technical College Sioux Falls, SD Public · 2-year · Open admission | 56% | 70% | $17,400 | $53,289 | 2,310 |
| 24 | Ultimate Medical Academy Clearwater, FL Private nonprofit · 2-year · Open admission | 55% | 72% | $20,457 | $30,561 | 8,932 |
| 25 | Western Dakota Technical College Rapid City, SD Public · 2-year · Open admission | 54% | 67% | $12,670 | $49,930 | 753 |
| 26 | Southwestern Community College Sylva, NC Public · 2-year · Open admission | 53% | 73% | $5,207 | $45,381 | 1,249 |
| 27 | Ohlone College Fremont, CA Public · 2-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | 53% | 76% | $11,130 | — | 7,099 |
| 28 | McDowell Technical Community College Marion, NC Public · 2-year · Open admission | 53% | 76% | $7,784 | $44,664 | 608 |
| 29 | North Dakota State College of Science Wahpeton, ND Public · 2-year · Open admission | 52% | 75% | $11,261 | $60,587 | 1,909 |
| 30 | Dakota County Technical College Rosemount, MN Public · 2-year · Open admission | 52% | 71% | $13,548 | $59,518 | 2,168 |
| 31 | Northland Community and Technical College Thief River Falls, MN Public · 2-year · Open admission | 52% | 66% | $13,975 | $54,671 | 1,554 |
| 32 | West Valley College Saratoga, CA Public · 2-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | 52% | 80% | $3,423 | $51,402 | 6,416 |
| 33 | Lake Region State College Devils Lake, ND Public · 2-year · Open admission | 51% | 65% | $13,577 | $60,667 | 611 |
| 34 | Clarendon College Clarendon, TX Public · 2-year · Open admission | 51% | 60% | $8,390 | $36,818 | 1,520 |
| 35 | Johnson College Scranton, PA Private nonprofit · 2-year | 51% | 71% | $19,954 | $51,602 | 590 |
| 36 | Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wesson, MS Public · 2-year · Open admission | 51% | 73% | $3,894 | $36,902 | 1,922 |
| 37 | Las Positas College Livermore, CA Public · 2-year · Open admission | 51% | 82% | $5,377 | $52,625 | 7,299 |
| 38 | Central Lakes College-Brainerd Brainerd, MN Public · 2-year · Open admission | 51% | 67% | $13,869 | $50,357 | 1,614 |
| 39 | Sandhills Community College Pinehurst, NC Public · 2-year · Open admission | 50% | 75% | $4,157 | $43,952 | 2,539 |
| 40 | Vance-Granville Community College Henderson, NC Public · 2-year · Open admission | 50% | 74% | $3,286 | $47,633 | 1,665 |
| 41 | Northeast Iowa Community College Calmar, IA Public · 2-year · Open admission | 50% | 59% | $11,272 | $50,002 | 1,697 |
| 42 | Mid-Plains Community College North Platte, NE Public · 2-year · Open admission | 49% | 63% | $5,235 | $47,858 | 937 |
| 43 | Academy for Nursing and Health Occupations West Palm Beach, FL Private nonprofit · 2-year · Open admission | 49% | — | $30,381 | $60,657 | 558 |
| 44 | National Polytechnic College Lakewood, CA For-profit · 2-year · Open admission | 48% | — | $30,669 | $42,752 | 516 |
| 45 | Southwest Mississippi Community College Summit, MS Public · 2-year · Open admission | 48% | 70% | $2,525 | $27,408 | 1,474 |
| 46 | Canada College Redwood City, CA Public · 2-year · Open admission · Hispanic-Serving | 48% | 73% | $32 | $65,945 | 5,175 |
| 47 | Ridgewater College Willmar, MN Public · 2-year · Open admission | 48% | 69% | $10,046 | $49,859 | 2,162 |
| 48 | Itawamba Community College Fulton, MS Public · 2-year · Open admission | 48% | 74% | $4,616 | $41,849 | 4,167 |
| 49 | John Wood Community College Quincy, IL Public · 2-year · Open admission | 48% | 66% | $7,050 | $43,414 | 1,371 |
| 50 | Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Perkinston, MS Public · 2-year · Open admission | 47% | 63% | $6,962 | $44,103 | 6,353 |
States with schools on this list
Browse every college in these states.