Largest universities by state

The table identifies the largest tracked postsecondary institution in each of the 50 states and DC by reported enrollment. Figures come from federal Clery Act campus-safety filings and are useful for a size comparison, not a quality or safety ranking.

Coverage status: all 50 states and DC appear in the enrollment table. Federal records for territories remain available in the state-safety comparison below but are outside this standard state-by-state view.

Source: the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Safety and Security Survey. Enrollment is institution-reported, so an online or multi-campus system can represent more students than a single physical campus; see the methodology for coverage and definitions.

State Largest tracked institution Reported enrollment
Alabama AL The University of Alabama 39,622
Alaska AK University of Alaska Anchorage 10,796
Arizona AZ Grand Canyon University 107,563
Arkansas AR University of Arkansas 32,140
California CA Western Governors University 185,015
Colorado CO University of Colorado Boulder 41,432
Connecticut CT Connecticut State Community College 34,991
Delaware DE University of Delaware 24,221
District of Columbia DC George Washington University 25,568
Florida FL University of Central Florida 69,233
Georgia GA Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus 47,946
Hawaii HI University of Hawaii at Manoa 19,256
Idaho ID Brigham Young University-Idaho 42,996
Illinois IL University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 56,563
Indiana IN Ivy Tech Community College 100,077
Iowa IA Iowa State University 30,177
Kansas KS University of Kansas 28,406
Kentucky KY University of Kentucky 32,703
Louisiana LA Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College 39,418
Maine ME University of Maine 11,760
Maryland MD University of Maryland Global Campus 60,084
Massachusetts MA Boston University 36,624
Michigan MI University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 52,065
Minnesota MN University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 54,890
Mississippi MS University of Mississippi 24,043
Missouri MO University of Missouri-Columbia 31,013
Montana MT Montana State University 16,960
Nebraska NE University of Nebraska-Lincoln 23,986
Nevada NV University of Nevada-Las Vegas 31,094
New Hampshire NH Southern New Hampshire University 184,099
New Jersey NJ Rutgers University-New Brunswick 50,617
New Mexico NM University of New Mexico-Main Campus 22,700
New York NY New York University 57,335
North Carolina NC North Carolina State University at Raleigh 37,323
North Dakota ND University of North Dakota 14,172
Ohio OH Ohio State University-Main Campus 60,046
Oklahoma OK University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus 29,145
Oregon OR Oregon State University 35,622
Pennsylvania PA Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus 50,399
Rhode Island RI University of Rhode Island 17,351
South Carolina SC University of South Carolina-Columbia 36,579
South Dakota SD South Dakota State University 11,498
Tennessee TN The University of Tennessee-Knoxville 36,304
Texas TX Texas A & M University-College Station 76,633
Utah UT Utah Valley University 44,651
Vermont VT University of Vermont 14,320
Virginia VA Liberty University 103,068
Washington WA University of Washington-Seattle Campus 55,620
West Virginia WV American Public University System 50,187
Wisconsin WI University of Wisconsin-Madison 49,605
Wyoming WY University of Wyoming 10,913

Campus safety by state

For a separate comparison, these state averages use reported on-campus incidents per 1,000 students. Lower scores mean fewer reported incidents relative to enrollment.

Rank State Schools Avg Safety Score
1 Marshall Islands MH 1 -
2 Northern Mariana Islands MP 1 -
3 Palau PW 1 -
4 Puerto Rico PR 121 0.17
5 U.S. Virgin Islands VI 1 0.57
6 New Jersey NJ 146 0.65
7 Nevada NV 35 0.82
8 Florida FL 300 0.84
9 Idaho ID 31 0.97
10 Arkansas AR 76 0.97
11 Federated States of Micronesia FM 1 1.15
12 North Dakota ND 25 1.21
13 Guam GU 3 1.38
14 Montana MT 26 1.43
15 South Dakota SD 21 1.52
16 Michigan MI 154 1.65
17 Louisiana LA 106 1.65
18 Hawaii HI 20 1.74
19 Oklahoma OK 95 1.76
20 Connecticut CT 49 1.85
21 Georgia GA 133 1.86
22 Virginia VA 133 1.87
23 New Hampshire NH 31 1.88
24 Wyoming WY 10 1.88
25 Illinois IL 222 1.96
26 Mississippi MS 50 2.07
27 Alabama AL 73 2.08
28 Utah UT 58 2.13
29 Indiana IN 100 2.19
30 American Samoa AS 1 2.20
31 Maryland MD 71 2.21
32 Ohio OH 260 2.22
33 Tennessee TN 139 2.26
34 Wisconsin WI 82 2.28
35 South Carolina SC 87 2.29
36 Maine ME 33 2.31
37 Massachusetts MA 138 2.41
38 North Carolina NC 160 2.44
39 Delaware DE 15 2.47
40 California CA 604 2.66
41 Washington WA 92 2.80
42 New York NY 387 2.89
43 Minnesota MN 89 2.91
44 Rhode Island RI 20 3.02
45 Oregon OR 67 3.02
46 Nebraska NE 39 3.05
47 Colorado CO 79 3.52
48 Alaska AK 10 3.92
49 Arizona AZ 94 3.94
50 Texas TX 374 3.95
51 New Mexico NM 43 4.57
52 Missouri MO 132 4.59
53 Kentucky KY 84 4.62
54 Kansas KS 75 4.99
55 Pennsylvania PA 299 5.92
56 West Virginia WV 66 8.86
57 Vermont VT 15 12.35
58 District of Columbia DC 20 12.60
59 Iowa IA 75 14.64

Safety score = total on-campus Clery Act incidents / (enrollment / 1,000). Rank 1 = safest.