About UD

A research-intensive, technologically advanced university with global impact, the University of Delaware traces its roots to the founding of a small private academy in 1743. The University received its charter from the State of Delaware in 1833 and was designated in 1867 as one of the nation’s historic Land Grant colleges. The University celebrated its 275th anniversary in 2018-19 and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education reaffirmed its accreditation of the University in 2022, commending it for its progress.

A Land Grant, Sea Grant and Space Grant institution, UD is state assisted, yet privately governed. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as having very high research activity, a distinction achieved by less than 3% of U.S. colleges and universities, and it ranks among the nation’s top 100 universities in federal research and development support for science and engineering. In 2015, UD received the Carnegie Community Engagement classification, recognizing the extension and impact of its scholarship to society through work with more than 300 community partners in dozens of locales.

The University offers a broad range of degree programs (66 doctoral programs, 149 master’s programs, 163 bachelor’s programs, and four associate programs) through its colleges: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Arts and Sciences; Earth, Ocean and Environment; Education and Human Development; Engineering; Health Sciences; Graduate College; Honors College; the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, and the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration. The University’s non-residential Associate in Arts Program provides foundational courses for Delaware-resident students, who then transition to UD’s primary campus in Newark to complete their bachelor’s degrees.

For fall 2023, enrollment totaled 18,812 undergraduates, 653 AAP students, 4,449 graduate students and 960 professional and continuing studies students for a grand total of 24,874. These students come from across the country and around the globe.

UD is highly regarded in multiple external rankings, including U.S. News and World Report (76 nationally and 36 among public institutions, 2024) and QS World University Ranking (top 500 in the world, 2024). Also, U.S. News and World Report ranks 22 UD graduate programs among the best in the nation, including 10 in the top 50 (2024), and it includes 17 UD graduate programs among the top 100, and 12 programs in the top 50 in the nation, spanning all colleges. Six undergraduate programs are among the top quarter in the nation, including a ranking of No. 5 for the undergraduate program in chemical engineering. 

Forbes named UD as Best Employer in Delaware in 2021 and 2022.

For FY 2022, externally sponsored expenditures totaled more than $222 million, setting a record for the seventh year in a row, even though the University is not host to an academic medical center. UD ranks among the top 10% in federal research funding from the National Science Foundation, USDA, NASA and the Department of Energy, and there are five federally sponsored research institutes at UD. The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) is headquartered at UD. The University has more than 85 research centers, plus 15 core facilities.

The University has endowment assets of almost $2 billion. UD has a $5.4 billion economic impact in the Northeast Corridor, which supports more than 35,000 jobs. In Delaware alone, the impact is $3.2 billion; for every $1 the state invests in the University through its annual operating appropriation, UD generates $23 in economic activity.

 Its annual operating budget is more than $1 billion. The FY24 state operating and capital appropriation of approximately $200 million (a record year in the past decade) helps create a sizable economic impact in the state. For every $1 invested by the State, UD produces $23 in economic activity within Delaware. Overall, the University generates an annual multi-state economic impact of $5.5 billion and supports approximately 35,320 jobs throughout the Northeast Corridor.

In 2023, the University concluded Delaware First: The Campaign for the University of Delaware, the largest fundraising and engagement campaign in the University’s 280-year history. Launched in 2017 with an initial goal of $750 million, the campaign has helped establish several key programs such as the Graduate College and the Honors Colleges, initiatives around innovation and entrepreneurship, partnerships through the Biden School and the construction of several new buildings around campus, including the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center on the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus and the Whitney Athletic Center. In 2021, after achieving the original goal of Delaware First ahead of schedule, President Dennis Assanis extended the campaign and increased the fundraising goal to $1 billion. With record-breaking support of  113,402 donors, the campaign raised a final total of $1.05 billion.

Research and Innovation at UD

UD is driving discovery for the future. For FY 2023, externally sponsored expenditures for research and public service totaled more than $289 million, even though the University is not host to an academic medical center. In particular, externally sponsored research totaled $237 million in FY 2023, a nearly 40% increase over the past four years. Since 2009, UD has had 678 patent disclosures, 192 patents have been issued and 92 licenses have been executed. Some 38 startups have resulted from licensing of UD technology.

UD is playing key roles in two Manufacturing USA Institutes. UD leads NIIMBL, the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, in collaboration with the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIIMBL involves more than 200 companies, educational institutions, nonprofits and state governments to advance U.S. leadership in the development and manufacture of prescription medicines from living cells. These medicines include vaccines, cancer drugs and drugs to treat autoimmune diseases, as well as emerging cell and gene therapies. Expected total investment of all stakeholders is approaching nearly $500 million, including $232 million of federal investment.

Additionally, UD is leading a major node of RAPID, the Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment manufacturing institute, coordinated by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. RAPID’s role is to develop breakthrough technologies and processes that will boost energy productivity and efficiency and decrease environmental impacts, especially related to chemical manufacturing. RAPID will leverage $70 million in federal funding from the

U.S. Department of Energy over five years and an additional $70 million in private cost-share commitments from partners.

UD’s biopharmaceutical research and education initiatives, along with many of our top resources in biotechnology and data science, are co-located with NIIMBL headquarters in the new, state-of-the-art Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center at the heart of UD’s STAR Campus. The $165 million center has been called a “game changer” for UD and is expected to drive significant research, workforce training and economic development.

The newest project on the STAR Campus is the FinTech Innovation Hub, a partnership with Discover Bank and Delaware Technology Park with the ultimate goal of improving access to financial systems for the underserved. FinTech — or “financial technology” — is a burgeoning employment sector for Delaware and the region. More than 300 people will work in the 100,000-square-foot facility, using data analytics, visualization and artificial intelligence for research, education and community engagement.

Also nearby is the new Chemours Discovery Hub, where UD students and faculty are collaborating on research projects with the global leader in titanium technologies, thermal and specialized solutions, advanced performance materials, and chemical solutions.

Beyond STAR Campus, more than 90 UD research centers, institutes and core facilities reflect the diversity and rigor of the University’s research interests, as well as its commitment to improving the quality of life in Delaware and beyond. Examples include the Charles C. Allen Jr. Biotechnology Laboratory, the Partnership for Public Education, the Data Science Institute, the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, the nationally accredited Early Learning Center, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center, and the Disaster Research Center.

Also, with several centers and institutes dedicated to renewable energy science, the environment, education and policy (such as the Delaware Energy Institute, Delaware Environmental Institute, Biden Institute, new Gerard J. Mangone Climate Change Hub, and the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy), UD is working on the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. UD scientists are conducting ground-breaking research in solar cells, wind power, vehicle-to-grid technology, green hydrogen and catalysis.

UD is home to two Energy Frontier Research Centers, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, including the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation and the Center for Plastics Innovation, where cutting-edge work is underway to break down plastic waste. The UD Center for Hybrid, Active, and Responsive Materials, one of 19 Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers funded by the National Science Foundation across the United States, is advancing further innovations in how materials are made, working with diverse teams.

UD has a sea-faring research facility, a 146-foot ship named the Hugh R. Sharp, at our seaside Lewes Campus. Commissioned into service in May 2006, the R/V Sharp is a member of the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet, capable of carrying up to 20 scientists on scientific cruises as long as 18 days.

The University also fosters an entrepreneurial spirit that runs deep in all colleges through academic programs, mentors, startup incubators and community engagement. Horn Entrepreneurship, a campus-wide enterprise, emphasizes experiential learning and active engagement with business leaders. Its courses and programs give students the knowledge,

skills, connections and access to resources needed to successfully manifest innovation and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

The Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships is centered on long-term productive partnerships, and it facilitates access to space, capital, counsel and connections that empower entrepreneurs and innovators to accelerate their ideas to market, grow their businesses and form partnerships. UD also is a key partner in the new NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Northeast Hub. It provides researchers with entrepreneurial training, mentoring and resources to form startup companies that translate laboratory discoveries into breakthrough products and services.

Other partnerships include the Delaware Innovation Space, Inc., a nonprofit designed in conjunction with the state of Delaware and DuPont to help science-based businesses grow in Delaware and connect students to the work of the most talented innovators. The focus is on key science, technology, engineering and mathematics areas that align with strengths that both DuPont and UD bring to the venture.

Resources

About Delaware

Print Friendly, PDF & Email