The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or graduate school search.
While a small college can offer more personalized attention, a large university has its advantages.
Universities with a large undergraduate enrollment typically offer a wider range of degree programs, more clubs and expansive alumni networks, to name just a few perks.
[See the 10 universities with the biggest endowments.]
Among the 1,275 ranked institutions that submitted these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average undergraduate enrollment for fall 2016 was 6,265. The average among the 10 schools with the highest undergrad enrollment was more than seven times higher: 44,748.
The 10 schools with the most undergraduate students are all National Universities — institutions that offer a range of undergraduate majors plus master’s and doctoral programs. Nine of these schools are public institutions, with the exception being Liberty University in Virginia. The majority of these schools enroll more than 40,000 undergraduates.
At the top of the list is the University of Central Florida with 55,776 students in fall 2016 — which is nearly a 12 percent increase compared with the school’s enrollment five years earlier.
[Explore the 10 top public National Universities.]
Texas A&M University–College Station and Liberty University, which has a large online undergraduate enrollment, followed in the second and third spots, respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum is Marlboro College, a private liberal arts school in Vermont, which enrolled the fewest undergraduates in fall 2016: 196 students.
Below is a list of the 10 ranked National Universities with the highest undergraduate student enrollment in fall 2016. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School (state) | Fall 2016 undergraduate enrollment | U.S. News rank |
| University of Central Florida | 55,776 | 171 (tie) |
| Texas A&M University–College Station | 50,735 | 69 (tie) |
| Liberty University (VA) | 47,050 | 231-300 |
| Ohio State University–Columbus | 45,831 | 54 (tie) |
| Florida International University | 45,813 | 216 (tie) |
| Arizona State University–Tempe | 42,477 | 115 (tie) |
| Pennsylvania State University–University Park | 41,359 | 52 (tie) |
| University of Texas–Austin | 40,168 | 56 (tie) |
| Indiana University–Bloomington | 39,184 | 90 (tie) |
| Michigan State University | 39,090 | 81 (tie) |
Don’t see your school on the list? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find enrollment data, complete rankings and much more. Sign up for the U.S. News Extra Help: College Admissions free email newsletter to receive expert advice twice a month.
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2017 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The enrollment data above are correct as of Dec. 5, 2017.
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10 Universities With the Most Undergraduate Students originally appeared on usnews.com
