Delaware ranking · Clery-reported enrollment 2024

The Largest Universities in Delaware

Every Delaware college and university that reports an enrolment to the U.S. Department of Education, ranked biggest first. Total enrolment counts online and distance students, so an institution with a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

24,412
Largest in Delaware
15
Institutions reporting
187
Median Delaware institution
#45
of 51 states by enrolment

University of Delaware is the largest institution in Delaware with 24,412 students

According to U.S. Department of Education campus-safety enrollment filings for 2024, University of Delaware leads Delaware at 24,412 students, and the five largest hold 97.1% of state enrollment. This list covers all 15 reporting institutions. Totals include online learners, so a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

Largest in Delaware
24,412
Institutions reporting
15
State students in top 5
97.1%
Median Delaware institution
187

Delaware in one line

University of Delaware is the largest institution in Delaware with 24,412 students, about 131x the 187 of the median institution in the state. 97.1% of every student in the state is enrolled at just these five institutions, so Delaware's higher education is concentrated at the top.

24,412
students at University of Delaware
97.1%
of state students, in the top 5
59,522
students enrolled across Delaware
21
the #15 cutoff

Enrollment is total students reported in the OPE campus-safety disclosure for 2024, including online and distance learners. IPEDS supplies institution location and sector. The incident column is reported on-campus Clery Act incidents per 1,000 enrolled students.

Size joined to safety

Among the 4 mid-to-large campuses on this Delaware size list, 2 report below the 1.58 national median incident rate per 1,000, 1 also rank in the national safest-50, and the list averages 5.39 against that 1.58 median (University of Delaware itself reports 2.38).

4
mid-to-large campuses on this list
2
below 1.58 national median /1k
1
also in national safest-50
2.38
University of Delaware rate /1k

Incident rates are on-campus Clery Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports per 1,000 enrolled students for campuses with enrollment ≥ 2,000 and a national safety rank. A lower rate is not a personal safety verdict, reporting culture and online enrollment dilute raw counts. See /rankings/safest-campuses for the size-fair national list.

What this ranking shows about Delaware

Delaware ranks 45th by total enrolment among the states and DC, so even its largest institutions are modest against national leaders. More than half of the 15 institutions reporting enrolment here are private for-profit (8 of them), largely small career and online schools, which is why Delaware reports so many institutions while its median enrolment stays low.

Ranking by total enrolment puts institutions with large online programmes above institutions with larger physical campuses, because a virtual student body is not limited by classrooms or housing. A list of the biggest campuses by students physically present would order differently, and neither list is more correct, because they answer different questions. Enrolment here is the total headcount an institution reported to the federal OPE reporting cohort, which counts undergraduate and graduate students together and makes no distinction between full-time and part-time study. A university with a very large part-time or continuing-education population can therefore outrank one with more students on campus on any given weekday.

The incident-rate column is here because institution size changes how a raw incident count should be read, not because a larger university is more or less safe. Two institutions with the same number of reported incidents are not comparable if one enrols five times as many students, so the column expresses incidents per thousand enrolled. A rate still reflects reporting practice as much as underlying risk: an institution that encourages reporting and investigates thoroughly can record more incidents than one that does neither, and that is the opposite of what a naive reading suggests. Institutions where most students study online show diluted rates, because the denominator counts students who never set foot on a campus. Read the column as context for the size ranking, never as a safety verdict, and see our methodology for how both figures are assembled. For the same institutions ranked by cost rather than size, see the cheapest colleges rankings, or browse every institution we hold a record for.

Comparing states? See the 50 largest universities in the US, or this state's campus safety profile.

Every reporting institution in Delaware is listed below. Here is how their enrollments spread:

Delaware enrollment distribution

Clery-reported enrollment · 15 Delaware institutions · 2024

21 Top 100% higher than 0% of 15 Delaware institutions

Show national distribution 0–3,000: 11 Delaware institutions (73%). This entry sits in this band. 3,000–6,000: 1 Delaware institutions (7%). Above this entry. 6,000–9,000: 0 Delaware institutions (0%). Above this entry. 9,000–12,000: 0 Delaware institutions (0%). Above this entry. 12,000–15,000: 2 Delaware institutions (13%). Above this entry. 15,000–18,000: 0 Delaware institutions (0%). Above this entry. 18,000–21,000: 0 Delaware institutions (0%). Above this entry. 21,000–24,000: 0 Delaware institutions (0%). Above this entry. 24,000–27,000: 1 Delaware institutions (7%). Above this entry. Smallest on list 0 27,000 every Delaware institution, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more Delaware institutions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey · 2024

All 15 ranked institutions in Delaware

#InstitutionEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1University of DelawareNewark, DE · Public24,412100% of the leader · rank #12.38
2Wilmington UniversityNew Castle, DE · Private nonprofit13,74656% of the leader · rank #20.07
3Delaware Technical Community College-TerryDover, DE · Public13,33755% of the leader · rank #30.52
4Delaware State UniversityDover, DE · Public5,32722% of the leader · rank #418.58
5Goldey-Beacom CollegeWilmington, DE · Private nonprofit1,0014% of the leader · rank #50.00
6Polytech Adult EducationWoodside, DE · Public5904% of the leader · rank #60.00
7Dawn Career Institute LLCNewark, DE · Private for-profit3554% of the leader · rank #70.00
8Strayer University-DelawareWilmington, DE · Private for-profit1874% of the leader · rank #80.00
9Schilling-Douglas School of Hair DesignNewark, DE · Private for-profit1524% of the leader · rank #90.00
10Paul Mitchell the School-DelawareNewark, DE · Private for-profit1484% of the leader · rank #100.00
11Academy of Massage and BodyworkBear, DE · Private for-profit814% of the leader · rank #110.00
12Delaware Learning Institute of CosmetologyDagsboro, DE · Private for-profit814% of the leader · rank #120.00
13Margaret H Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Medical CenterLewes, DE · Private nonprofit514% of the leader · rank #1339.22
14Hair Academy School of Barbering & BeautyNewark, DE · Private for-profit334% of the leader · rank #140.00
15All In The Wrist Barber AcademySmyrna, DE · Private for-profit214% of the leader · rank #150.00

What to do with this

Size is a starting filter for Delaware, not a verdict on any institution.

Institutions below the reporting floor, or without enrolment in the Campus Safety and Security Survey cohort for 2024, do not appear on this list. IPEDS supplies classification and location.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Campus Safety and Security Survey (enrollment and Clery disclosures), joined to the IPEDS institutional directory (location and classification)

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page is computed at request time from the federal source tables; no ranking position or count is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-11.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.