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 matters to you in your college or grad school search.
Colleges, in some ways, are like small cities. Some c olleges have their own police forces, transportation systems and even power grids. At the 10 schools with the largest undergraduate enrollment in fall 2019, the student body at many of these colleges even surpassed the population of 10 U.S. state capitals.
[Read: How Many Universities Are in the U.S. and Why That Number Is Changing.]
The University of Central Florida, for example, had far more undergraduate students than the population of Montpelier, Vermont, a capital city. UCF had nearly 59,500 undergraduates enrolled, compared with fewer than 7,500 residents who lived in Montpelier. The largest colleges on the list below form vast communities and often boast a national profile, well-known athletic teams and highly touted research credentials.
On the flip side, of the 1,234 ranked colleges that reported undergraduate enrollment in fall 2019 to U.S. News in an annual survey, some were populated more like a neighborhood than a city. Judson College in Alabama, for example, reported 250 undergrads enrolled.
In fact, 23 colleges reported fewer than 500 undergraduate students enrolled in fall 2019, according to U.S. News data. The average, across all ranked colleges that reported the undergraduate headcount, was 6,445 students.
[See: 10 Colleges With Affordable Out-of-State Tuition.]
But at the colleges with the largest undergraduate population in fall 2019, enrollment averaged 46,873. Eight of these 10 colleges are National Universities, institutions that are often research-oriented and offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. Two are Regional Universities, schools that offer bachelor’s degrees, some master’s programs and limited options at the doctoral level. Nine out of 10 colleges on this list are public schools, with Liberty University in Virginia as the only exception.
Below is a list of the 10 colleges that enrolled the most undergraduates in fall 2019. 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 2019 undergraduate enrollment | U.S. News rank and category |
| University of Central Florida | 59,483 | 160 (tie), National Universities |
| Texas A&M University | 53,791 | 66 (tie), National Universities |
| Florida International University | 49,004 | 187 (tie), National Universities |
| Liberty University (VA) | 47,025 | 298-389, National Universities |
| Ohio State University–Columbus | 46,818 | 53 (tie), National Universities |
| University of Maryland Global Campus | 46,162 | 136-176, Regional Universities (North) |
| Arizona State University–Tempe | 44,461 | 103 (tie), National Universities |
| Utah Valley University | 41,186 | 95-124, Regional Universities (West) |
| Pennsylvania State University–University Park | 40,639 | 63 (tie), National Universities |
| University of Texas at Austin | 40,163 | 42 (tie), National Universities |
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find admissions and retention statistics, 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 2020 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 comes 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 undergraduate enrollment data above is correct as of Sept. 29, 2020.
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10 Colleges With the Most Undergraduate Students originally appeared on usnews.com
