by our College Data Analytics TeamHow many USAFA first-year students return for their second year, and how many go on to graduate? Retention and graduation rates help you understand how students progress at USAFA. First year retention shows who comes back, and graduation rates show who finishes and how long it takes.
Freshmen retention rate refers to the percentage of first-time / full-time students who return for their second year.
With 97% students making it past their freshmen year, USAFA has freshmen retention rates above the national average.
Nationwide, the average first to second year retention rate is 70.57%.
When looking at just colleges and universities in Colorado, the average is 70.70%.
| Retention Rate | |
|---|---|
| USAFA | 97% |
| Nationwide | 70.57% |
| Colorado | 70.70% |
There were approximately 979 students in the class of 2023. How many of them actually completed their degree in a timely fashion?
Four years after beginning their degree, 89% of those students had graduated. By 2025, six years after starting their degree, 89% of the students had graduated and after eight years 89% of this class completed their degree.
Any student who completes their bachelor's degree within six years is considered to have graduated on time, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This makes the offical USAFA graduation rate 89%.
| Completion Within | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 979 | 89% |
| Six Years | 979 | 89% |
| Eight Years | 1 | 0% |
| Did Not Complete | 123 | 11% |
The non-completers rate is anyone who is not still enrolled at the institution after eight years. Both transfer students and drop-outs could be included in this group.
We don’t have drop out data for United States Air Force Academy.
| Race/Ethnicity | Graduation Rate |
|---|---|
| American Indian or Alaskan Native | 80% |
| Asian | 90% |
| Black / African-American | 77% |
| Hawaiian | 78% |
| Hispanic | 87% |
| International | 100% |
| Multi-Ethnic | 85% |
| Unknown | 89% |
| White | 90% |
Traditional first-time, full-time students under 25 tend to graduate in four years far more often than other students. Some schools serve mostly traditional students while others serve more 'non-traditional' students — part-timers or those returning after time away — who commonly take longer to finish.
Traditional Students:
First-time, full-time students under the age of 25.
Non-Traditional Students:
Any student that is not first-time, full-time, and under the age of 25.
The majority of students at USAFA are considered 'traditional students' who are first-time attending full-time.
Comparing the graduation rates of the specific cohorts below can be more revealing than the overall graduation rates.
First-time / full-time students at United States Air Force Academy represent 100.00% of the students in the class of 2023.
After six years, the USAFA graduation rate was 89%, and by the eight year mark, 89% of the cohort had completed their degree.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for this group is 37.92% after four years, 46.43% after six years, and 47.82% after eight years.
| Completions | USAFA | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 89% | 37.92% |
| Six Years | 89% | 46.43% |
| Eight Years | 89% | 47.82% |
123 first-time / full-time students or 11% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
0 are still enrolled.
0 transferred to another institution.
USAFA lost contact with the remaining 123 who we assumed dropped out.
| Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 0 | 0.00% |
| Transferred | 0 | 0.00% |
| Dropped Out | 123 | 100.00% |
Unfortunately, we don’t have access to data for this cohort at United States Air Force Academy.
At this time we lack data for this cohort at United States Air Force Academy.
Unfortunately, we don’t have access to data for this cohort at United States Air Force Academy.
