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 recently reaffirmed its accreditation of the University, 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.

For FY 2021, total externally sponsored expenditures totaled more than $258 million, even though the University is not host to an academic medical center. UD is driving discovery for the future: In FY 2022, the University’s total sponsored expenditures reached $305.3 million, of which $221.7 million was research expenditures, a 52% increase over the past five years. Currently, UD’s research expenditures exceed $237 million (FY2023). Since 2009, UD has had 678 patent disclosures, more than 192 patents have been issued and 92 licenses have been executed. Some 38 start-ups have resulted from licensing of UD technology.

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 2022, enrollment totaled 18,665 undergraduates, 4,557 graduate students and 817 professional and continuing studies students for a grand total of 24,039. These students come from across the country and around the globe.

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About Delaware