Florida ranking · Clery-reported enrollment 2024

The Biggest Colleges in Florida

The 50 largest of the 291 Florida colleges and universities that report 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.

69,713
Largest in Florida
291
Institutions reporting
428
Median Florida institution
#4
of 51 states by enrolment

University of Central Florida is the largest institution in Florida with 69,713 students

According to U.S. Department of Education campus-safety enrollment filings for 2024, University of Central Florida leads Florida at 69,713 students, and the five largest hold 26.2% of state enrollment. This list covers the 50 largest of 291 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 Florida
69,713
Institutions reporting
291
State students in top 5
26.2%
Median Florida institution
428

Florida in one line

University of Central Florida is the largest institution in Florida with 69,713 students, about 163x the 428 of the median institution in the state. The five largest hold only 26.2% of the state's students, so enrolment is spread widely across many smaller institutions rather than gathered into a few.

69,713
students at University of Central Florida
26.2%
of state students, in the top 5
1,104,579
students enrolled across Florida
4,147
the #50 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

These 50 largest institutions enroll 87.3% of Florida's students; the other 241 reporting institutions hold the remaining 12.7%. Among the 50 mid-to-large campuses on this list, 37 sit below the 1.58 national median incident rate, and 5 also appear in the national safest-50.

87.3%
of state students, in these 50
37
below 1.58 national median /1k
5
also in national safest-50
2.41
University of Central Florida 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.

Showing the top 50 of 291 Florida institutions by enrollment (964,339 of 1,104,579 students, 87.3%). The remaining 241 reporting institutions enroll 12.7% of the state total and are omitted from this capped ranking, not from the underlying federal tables.

What this ranking shows about Florida

Florida is the 4th largest US jurisdiction by total enrolment, teaching 5.5% of all reported US students. More than half of the 291 institutions reporting enrolment here are private for-profit (148 of them), largely small career and online schools, which is why Florida 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.

The bar to make Florida's top-50 list is 4,147 students. Here is where that cutoff sits among all 291 Florida institutions reporting enrollment:

The bar to make Florida's top-50 list

Clery-reported enrollment · 291 Florida institutions · 2024

4,147 Top 17% higher than 83% of 291 Florida institutions

Show national distribution 0–7,000: 248 Florida institutions (85%). This entry sits in this band. 7,000–14,000: 19 Florida institutions (7%). Above this entry. 14,000–21,000: 10 Florida institutions (3%). Above this entry. 21,000–28,000: 5 Florida institutions (2%). Above this entry. 28,000–35,000: 2 Florida institutions (1%). Above this entry. 35,000–42,000: 0 Florida institutions (0%). Above this entry. 42,000–49,000: 2 Florida institutions (1%). Above this entry. 49,000–56,000: 2 Florida institutions (1%). Above this entry. 56,000–63,000: 2 Florida institutions (1%). Above this entry. 63,000–70,000: 1 Florida institutions (0%). Above this entry. #50 cutoff 0 70,000 every Florida institution, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more Florida 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

The 50 largest of Florida's 291 institutions

9
Broward College Fort Lauderdale, FL · Public
Enrollment
30,728
Incidents /1k
1.04
10
Full Sail University Winter Park, FL · Private for-profit
Enrollment
27,169
Incidents /1k
0.04
17
University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
19,852
Incidents /1k
2.01
27
Santa Fe College Gainesville, FL · Public
Enrollment
12,758
Incidents /1k
0.31
44
Barry University Miami, FL · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
6,825
Incidents /1k
0.88
# Institution EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 University of Central Florida Orlando, FL · Public 69,713 100% of the leader · rank #1 2.41
2 Miami Dade College Miami, FL · Public 58,941 85% of the leader · rank #2 0.34
3 University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public 56,311 81% of the leader · rank #3 8.42
4 Florida International University Miami, FL · Public 54,723 78% of the leader · rank #4 2.27
5 University of South Florida Tampa, FL · Public 49,622 71% of the leader · rank #5 4.63
6 Valencia College Orlando, FL · Public 47,425 68% of the leader · rank #6 0.38
7 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public 43,889 63% of the leader · rank #7 3.51
8 Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL · Public 31,607 45% of the leader · rank #8 2.12
9 Broward College Fort Lauderdale, FL · Public 30,728 44% of the leader · rank #9 1.04
10 Full Sail University Winter Park, FL · Private for-profit 27,169 39% of the leader · rank #10 0.04
11 Palm Beach State College Lake Worth, FL · Public 25,916 37% of the leader · rank #11 0.12
12 St Petersburg College St. Petersburg, FL · Public 23,936 34% of the leader · rank #12 0.00
13 Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL · Public 23,556 34% of the leader · rank #13 0.47
14 Hillsborough Community College Tampa, FL · Public 21,483 31% of the leader · rank #14 0.19
15 Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL · Private nonprofit 20,910 30% of the leader · rank #15 1.87
16 Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL · Private nonprofit 20,888 30% of the leader · rank #16 0.29
17 University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Private nonprofit 19,852 28% of the leader · rank #17 2.01
18 Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL · Public 16,612 24% of the leader · rank #18 0.48
19 University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL · Public 16,154 23% of the leader · rank #19 0.62
20 Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL · Public 15,429 22% of the leader · rank #20 0.52
21 Seminole State College of Florida Sanford, FL · Public 15,390 22% of the leader · rank #21 0.07
22 University of West Florida Pensacola, FL · Public 14,822 21% of the leader · rank #22 1.21
23 Florida SouthWestern State College Fort Myers, FL · Public 14,301 21% of the leader · rank #23 0.56
24 Eastern Florida State College Melbourne, FL · Public 14,053 20% of the leader · rank #24 0.14
25 Daytona State College Daytona Beach, FL · Public 12,820 18% of the leader · rank #25 1.40
26 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide Daytona Beach, FL · Private nonprofit 12,770 18% of the leader · rank #26 0.16
27 Santa Fe College Gainesville, FL · Public 12,758 18% of the leader · rank #27 0.31
28 Tallahassee State College Tallahassee, FL · Public 12,455 18% of the leader · rank #28 0.08
29 Southeastern University Lakeland, FL · Private nonprofit 11,510 17% of the leader · rank #29 1.56
30 The University of Tampa Tampa, FL · Private nonprofit 11,433 16% of the leader · rank #30 2.62
31 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL · Private nonprofit 11,426 16% of the leader · rank #31 1.58
32 Polk State College Winter Haven, FL · Public 10,318 15% of the leader · rank #32 0.29
33 South Florida Institute of Technology Miami, FL · Private for-profit 9,747 14% of the leader · rank #33 0.00
34 Saint Leo University Saint Leo, FL · Private nonprofit 9,692 14% of the leader · rank #34 1.65
35 Pensacola State College Pensacola, FL · Public 9,491 14% of the leader · rank #35 0.53
36 Pasco-Hernando State College New Port Richey, FL · Public 9,410 13% of the leader · rank #36 0.21
37 Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Tallahassee, FL · Public 9,313 13% of the leader · rank #37 2.47
38 Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL · Private nonprofit 8,992 13% of the leader · rank #38 2.89
39 Ultimate Medical Academy Clearwater, FL · Private nonprofit 8,932 13% of the leader · rank #39 0.00
40 State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota Bradenton, FL · Public 8,750 13% of the leader · rank #40 0.11
41 Ana G. Mendez University Orlando, FL · Private nonprofit 8,378 12% of the leader · rank #41 0.00
42 Saint Johns River State College Palatka, FL · Public 7,927 11% of the leader · rank #42 0.00
43 St. Thomas University Miami Gardens, FL · Private nonprofit 7,652 11% of the leader · rank #43 0.91
44 Barry University Miami, FL · Private nonprofit 6,825 10% of the leader · rank #44 0.88
45 College of Central Florida Ocala, FL · Public 5,928 9% of the leader · rank #45 1.35
46 Lake-Sumter State College Leesburg, FL · Public 5,810 8% of the leader · rank #46 0.00
47 Gulf Coast State College Panama City, FL · Public 5,426 8% of the leader · rank #47 0.18
48 Northwest Florida State College Niceville, FL · Public 4,752 7% of the leader · rank #48 0.00
49 Jacksonville University Jacksonville, FL · Private nonprofit 4,247 6% of the leader · rank #49 0.71
50 Palm Beach Atlantic University West Palm Beach, FL · Private nonprofit 4,147 6% of the leader · rank #50 1.69

What to do with this

Size is a starting filter for Florida, 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 2026-10-26.

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.