Texas ranking · Clery-reported enrollment 2024

The Largest Universities in Texas

The 50 largest of the 370 Texas 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.

78,321
Largest in Texas
370
Institutions reporting
533
Median Texas institution
#2
of 51 states by enrolment

Texas A&M University-College Station is the largest institution in Texas with 78,321 students

According to U.S. Department of Education campus-safety enrollment filings for 2024, Texas A&M University-College Station leads Texas at 78,321 students, and the five largest hold 19.4% of state enrollment. This list covers the 50 largest of 370 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 Texas
78,321
Institutions reporting
370
State students in top 5
19.4%
Median Texas institution
533

Texas in one line

Texas A&M University-College Station is the largest institution in Texas with 78,321 students, about 147x the 533 of the median institution in the state. The five largest hold only 19.4% of the state's students, so enrolment is spread widely across many smaller institutions rather than gathered into a few.

78,321
students at Texas A&M University-College Station
19.4%
of state students, in the top 5
1,693,589
students enrolled across Texas
8,961
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 75.4% of Texas's students; the other 320 reporting institutions hold the remaining 24.6%. Among the 50 mid-to-large campuses on this list, 27 sit below the 1.58 national median incident rate, and 1 also appear in the national safest-50.

75.4%
of state students, in these 50
27
below 1.58 national median /1k
1
also in national safest-50
12.28
Texas A&M University-College Station 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 370 Texas institutions by enrollment (1,277,605 of 1,693,589 students, 75.4%). The remaining 320 reporting institutions enroll 24.6% of the state total and are omitted from this capped ranking, not from the underlying federal tables.

What this ranking shows about Texas

Texas is the 2nd largest US jurisdiction by total enrolment, teaching 8.5% of all reported US students. More than half of the 370 institutions reporting enrolment here are private for-profit (194 of them), largely small career and online schools, which is why Texas 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 Texas's top-50 list is 8,961 students. Here is where that cutoff sits among all 370 Texas institutions reporting enrollment:

The bar to make Texas's top-50 list

Clery-reported enrollment · 370 Texas institutions · 2024

8,961 Top 14% higher than 86% of 370 Texas institutions

Show national distribution 0–8,000: 314 Texas institutions (85%). Below this entry. 8,000–16,000: 28 Texas institutions (8%). This entry sits in this band. 16,000–24,000: 8 Texas institutions (2%). Above this entry. 24,000–32,000: 5 Texas institutions (1%). Above this entry. 32,000–40,000: 4 Texas institutions (1%). Above this entry. 40,000–48,000: 6 Texas institutions (2%). Above this entry. 48,000–56,000: 2 Texas institutions (1%). Above this entry. 56,000–64,000: 0 Texas institutions (0%). Above this entry. 64,000–72,000: 1 Texas institutions (0%). Above this entry. 72,000–80,000: 2 Texas institutions (1%). Above this entry. #50 cutoff 0 80,000 every Texas institution, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more Texas 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 Texas's 370 institutions

3
Dallas College Dallas, TX · Public
Enrollment
69,749
Incidents /1k
0.60
22
Baylor University Waco, TX · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
20,626
Incidents /1k
7.51
26
Lamar University Beaumont, TX · Public
Enrollment
17,772
Incidents /1k
2.48
33
Palo Alto College San Antonio, TX · Public
Enrollment
12,395
Incidents /1k
0.40
39
Laredo College Laredo, TX · Public
Enrollment
11,029
Incidents /1k
0.00
42
Del Mar College Corpus Christi, TX · Public
Enrollment
10,256
Incidents /1k
0.49
43
Odessa College Odessa, TX · Public
Enrollment
9,981
Incidents /1k
0.10
46
Amarillo College Amarillo, TX · Public
Enrollment
9,262
Incidents /1k
0.32
50
Rice University Houston, TX · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
8,961
Incidents /1k
16.85
# Institution EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public 78,321 100% of the leader · rank #1 12.28
2 Lone Star College System The Woodlands, TX · Public 73,077 93% of the leader · rank #2 0.16
3 Dallas College Dallas, TX · Public 69,749 89% of the leader · rank #3 0.60
4 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public 53,864 69% of the leader · rank #4 1.95
5 Houston Community College Houston, TX · Public 53,253 68% of the leader · rank #5 0.32
6 University of Houston Houston, TX · Public 47,980 61% of the leader · rank #6 5.54
7 University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public 46,864 60% of the leader · rank #7 3.61
8 The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public 44,956 57% of the leader · rank #8 2.34
9 Tarrant County College District Fort Worth, TX · Public 43,928 56% of the leader · rank #9 1.68
10 Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public 40,757 52% of the leader · rank #10 3.66
11 Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public 40,674 52% of the leader · rank #11 7.30
12 Austin Community College District Austin, TX · Public 39,727 51% of the leader · rank #12 4.05
13 Collin County Community College District Mckinney, TX · Public 39,548 50% of the leader · rank #13 0.56
14 The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX · Public 35,770 46% of the leader · rank #14 1.98
15 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public 33,881 43% of the leader · rank #15 0.80
16 San Jacinto Community College Pasadena, TX · Public 31,812 41% of the leader · rank #16 0.31
17 The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX · Public 29,886 38% of the leader · rank #17 1.20
18 South Texas College Mcallen, TX · Public 27,431 35% of the leader · rank #18 0.22
19 El Paso Community College El Paso, TX · Public 25,567 33% of the leader · rank #19 0.20
20 The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX · Public 25,039 32% of the leader · rank #20 1.12
21 Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public 21,039 27% of the leader · rank #21 3.09
22 Baylor University Waco, TX · Private nonprofit 20,626 26% of the leader · rank #22 7.51
23 Northwest Vista College San Antonio, TX · Public 20,060 26% of the leader · rank #23 0.60
24 San Antonio College San Antonio, TX · Public 19,901 25% of the leader · rank #24 0.95
25 Blinn College District Brenham, TX · Public 18,095 23% of the leader · rank #25 0.44
26 Lamar University Beaumont, TX · Public 17,772 23% of the leader · rank #26 2.48
27 Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public 17,433 22% of the leader · rank #27 1.15
28 St Philip's College San Antonio, TX · Public 17,299 22% of the leader · rank #28 0.29
29 Texas Woman's University Denton, TX · Public 15,361 20% of the leader · rank #29 2.02
30 University of Houston-Downtown Houston, TX · Public 13,730 18% of the leader · rank #30 0.29
31 East Texas A&M University Commerce, TX · Public 13,252 17% of the leader · rank #31 3.24
32 Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX · Private nonprofit 12,938 17% of the leader · rank #32 6.88
33 Palo Alto College San Antonio, TX · Public 12,395 16% of the leader · rank #33 0.40
34 Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX · Private nonprofit 12,116 15% of the leader · rank #34 6.03
35 Texas State Technical College Waco, TX · Public 12,077 15% of the leader · rank #35 1.49
36 Tyler Junior College Tyler, TX · Public 11,885 15% of the leader · rank #36 1.51
37 Angelo State University San Angelo, TX · Public 11,542 15% of the leader · rank #37 1.30
38 Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX · Public 11,266 14% of the leader · rank #38 3.46
39 Laredo College Laredo, TX · Public 11,029 14% of the leader · rank #39 0.00
40 Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX · Public 10,472 13% of the leader · rank #40 1.62
41 The University of Texas at Tyler Tyler, TX · Public 10,362 13% of the leader · rank #41 2.32
42 Del Mar College Corpus Christi, TX · Public 10,256 13% of the leader · rank #42 0.49
43 Odessa College Odessa, TX · Public 9,981 13% of the leader · rank #43 0.10
44 Prairie View A & M University Prairie View, TX · Public 9,922 13% of the leader · rank #44 24.29
45 Northeast Lakeview College Universal City, TX · Public 9,355 12% of the leader · rank #45 0.43
46 Amarillo College Amarillo, TX · Public 9,262 12% of the leader · rank #46 0.32
47 South Plains College Levelland, TX · Public 9,098 12% of the leader · rank #47 0.00
48 West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX · Public 9,045 12% of the leader · rank #48 5.75
49 Texas A & M International University Laredo, TX · Public 8,991 11% of the leader · rank #49 1.22
50 Rice University Houston, TX · Private nonprofit 8,961 11% of the leader · rank #50 16.85

What to do with this

Size is a starting filter for Texas, 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.