State profile · DE · Clery Act

Safest Colleges in Delaware

Federal Clery Act filings for all 15 tracked Delaware campuses, ranked by 2024 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 students. Among nonzero reporters, Wilmington University currently has the lowest rate.

15
Institutions tracked
4.05
Avg campus rate / 1k (15 of 15 scored)
2.81
Statewide rate / 1k
#50
Rank by avg campus rate
59,522
Students enrolled

Among nonzero Clery reporters, Wilmington University has the lowest rate in Delaware

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery Act filings, across 15 tracked campuses in Delaware, 10 reported zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents used in the rate; among campuses with any in those categories, Wilmington University has the lowest rate at 0.07 per 1,000 students. This comparison excludes other Clery tables and unreported harm, so review the details before drawing a safety conclusion.

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

campuses tracked
15
average campus, per 1,000 (15 of 15 scored)
4.05
lowest nonzero rate - Wilmington University
0.07
campuses at zero in score categories
10

Data updated August 2026

Clery Act plate

Sheet DE · Delaware 4.05/1k campus avg · #50/59

RATE-HIGH · RANK-BOTTOM · BELOW-PEER · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-HEAVY

  • RATE-HIGH 4.05/1k
  • RANK-BOTTOM #50/59
  • BELOW-PEER Missouri · 0.17 back
  • ZERO-HEAVY 67% zero
  • WT-SMALL-HOT Δ +1.25
  • BOOK-FULL 15/15
  • CONC-HEAVY top5 97%

Nearest campus-rate peer: Missouri (+0.17/1k)

Delaware sheet RATE-HIGH · RANK-BOTTOM · BELOW-PEER · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-HEAVY · peer Missouri. Codes from this state’s OPE Campus Safety filing: unweighted campus rate, corpus rank (low = safer), photo-finish peer state, zero-report share, campus-vs-weighted gap, scored book, top-five enrollment concentration. Not a moving recommendation.

Clery plate RATE-HIGH · RANK-BOTTOM · BELOW-PEER · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-HEAVY. Nearest unweighted-rate peer is Missouri (+0.17/1k). Among nonzero reporters inside the state, Wilmington University leads at 0.07/1k. Instrument codes from this state's OPE Campus Safety sheet; compare similarly sized campuses before treating any single rate as decisive.

Most scored campuses in Delaware (10 of 15) reported zero in the 2024 score categories and stay unranked against each other. Among the nonzero reporters, Wilmington University leads at 0.07/1k, then Delaware Technical Community College-Terry (0.52/1k); University of Delaware (2.38/1k). A high zero share is a filing pattern, not a proof that campuses are safer.

Campus-rate neighbourhood around Delaware

Lowest/highest poles plus states nearest Delaware on unweighted average campus Clery rate. Full ladder: /rankings/.

per 1,000 students

What this shows Neighbourhood of scored states around Delaware's 4.05/1k unweighted campus average, not a full 50-state board reprint.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey (Clery Act) As of 2024

Safest colleges in Delaware, ranked by reported rate

Ranked from the lowest 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate upward, counting only the 5 Delaware campuses with at least one incident in those score categories. Positions are numbered within that group, because a rank counted through the zero-score campuses below would order them by nothing.

# Campus EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 Wilmington University New Castle · 13,746 students 13,746 0.07 4% of the leader · rank #1
2 Delaware Technical Community College-Terry Dover · 13,337 students 13,337 0.52 4% of the leader · rank #2
3 University of Delaware Newark · 24,412 students 24,412 2.38 6% of the leader · rank #3
4 Delaware State University Dover · 5,327 students 5,327 18.58 47% of the leader · rank #4
5 Margaret H Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Medical Center Lewes · 51 students 51 39.22 100% of the leader · rank #5

Unranked campuses (10): zero score or no normalized rate

10 filed zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents in the score categories; other Clery tables can still contain reports. Neither group supports a safety ordering, so these campuses are listed alphabetically without positions.

# Campus EnrollmentIncidents /1k
Academy of Massage and Bodywork Bear · 81 students 81 0.00
All In The Wrist Barber Academy Smyrna · 21 students 21 0.00
Dawn Career Institute LLC Newark · 355 students 355 0.00
Delaware Learning Institute of Cosmetology Dagsboro · 81 students 81 0.00
Goldey-Beacom College Wilmington · 1,001 students 1,001 0.00
Hair Academy School of Barbering & Beauty Newark · 33 students 33 0.00
Paul Mitchell the School-Delaware Newark · 148 students 148 0.00
Polytech Adult Education Woodside · 590 students 590 0.00
Schilling-Douglas School of Hair Design Newark · 152 students 152 0.00
Strayer University-Delaware Wilmington · 187 students 187 0.00

The largest universities in Delaware by enrollment

Enrollment leaders: University of Delaware (24,412); Wilmington University (13,746); Delaware Technical Community College-Terry (13,337), then 12 more. The 15 biggest Delaware institutions by total enrolled students, from the same federal IPEDS collection, each shown with its 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate. The five largest alone account for 97% of the 59,522 students enrolled across all 15 tracked Delaware institutions. Mid-pack by size sits near Strayer University-Delaware (187 students, 0.00/1k).

# Institution EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 University of Delaware Newark · 24,412 students 24,412 100% of the leader · rank #1 2.38
2 Wilmington University New Castle · 13,746 students 13,746 56% of the leader · rank #2 0.07
3 Delaware Technical Community College-Terry Dover · 13,337 students 13,337 55% of the leader · rank #3 0.52
4 Delaware State University Dover · 5,327 students 5,327 22% of the leader · rank #4 18.58
5 Goldey-Beacom College Wilmington · 1,001 students 1,001 4% of the leader · rank #5 0.00
6 Polytech Adult Education Woodside · 590 students 590 4% of the leader · rank #6 0.00
7 Dawn Career Institute LLC Newark · 355 students 355 4% of the leader · rank #7 0.00
8 Strayer University-Delaware Wilmington · 187 students 187 4% of the leader · rank #8 0.00
9 Schilling-Douglas School of Hair Design Newark · 152 students 152 4% of the leader · rank #9 0.00
10 Paul Mitchell the School-Delaware Newark · 148 students 148 4% of the leader · rank #10 0.00
11 Academy of Massage and Bodywork Bear · 81 students 81 4% of the leader · rank #11 0.00
12 Delaware Learning Institute of Cosmetology Dagsboro · 81 students 81 4% of the leader · rank #12 0.00
13 Margaret H Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Medical Center Lewes · 51 students 51 4% of the leader · rank #13 39.22
14 Hair Academy School of Barbering & Beauty Newark · 33 students 33 4% of the leader · rank #14 0.00
15 All In The Wrist Barber Academy Smyrna · 21 students 21 4% of the leader · rank #15 0.00

Enrollment is total reported students, not full-time equivalent, and a branch campus is reported separately from its parent institution. A larger campus is not a less safe one: the incident rate beside it is already per 1,000 students.

Nationwide states with similar campus scale or Clery rate

Two nationwide peer sets for Delaware: closest on tracked campus count (15 here) and closest on unweighted average 2024 Clery rate (4.05/1k here). The rate-neighbourhood and keep-peer blocks above stay geo-adjacent; these columns are cross-state ABS comparisons with deduped link sets.

Similar campus count

Nearest other states by number of tracked postsecondary institutions (≥5 scored campuses in corpus).

Similar campus Clery rate

Nearest other states by unweighted average on-campus Clery rate. Campus-count peers above are excluded.

Read with this state

Keep-peer handoff: Missouri sits nearest on unweighted campus average (+0.17/1k). Inside Delaware, open Wilmington University's campus sheet next.

Wilmington University profile → | All states → | Delaware net price → | Incident tool → | Methodology →

Delaware campus safety FAQ

What are the safest colleges in Delaware?

Among Delaware campuses that reported at least one 2024 Criminal Offense or VAWA incident in the Clery categories used here, Wilmington University has the lowest rate (0.07 per 1,000 students). Next among nonzero reporters: Delaware Technical Community College-Terry (0.52/1k); University of Delaware (2.38/1k). 10 campuses reported zero in those score categories and are listed separately without a safety ordinal, because a zero report is not the same as a proven safer campus.

How does PlainCampus rank campus safety in Delaware?

In Delaware, campuses with any 2024 Criminal Offenses or VAWA incidents in the score categories are ordered by incidents per 1,000 students - Wilmington University currently leads that nonzero list at 0.07/1k. Zero-report and unscored campuses stay unranked and alphabetical. See /methodology for the full rate definition.

How many colleges in Delaware are compared?

This page covers 15 tracked higher-education institutions in Delaware, serving about 59,522 enrolled students combined across 9 cities. 5 carry a ranked nonzero rate; 10 are listed without a safety ordinal. By enrollment the largest are University of Delaware (24,412); Wilmington University (13,746); Delaware Technical Community College-Terry (13,337). Nearby state averages for context: Missouri (4.22/1k); Minnesota (3.73/1k); Kentucky (3.45/1k); Rhode Island (4.86/1k); New Mexico (4.89/1k); Hawaii (2.75/1k).

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal Clery Act source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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.