University of Delaware

The University of Delaware offers relatively accessible admissions while maintaining a steady position among top national universities. In the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, the university placed 85th among national universities. Admissions have remained open to a majority of applicants, with an overall acceptance rate of 70.6% in 2025. When compared to similarly ranked public universities, this acceptance rate is higher than 57% of peer schools. However, admitted students often consider other alternatives rather than enrolling immediately. The university recorded an enrollment yield rate of 15.7% in 2025. Because only a small fraction of admitted applicants choose to matriculate, Delaware must extend offers generously to fill its incoming class. For prospective applicants, this combination of an accessible acceptance rate and a modest yield indicates solid admissions prospects for academically prepared students.

Applicants to the University of Delaware typically present solid high school records and test scores near the middle of competitive national ranges. For the class enrolling in 2025, the university reported a median SAT score of 1280. Most students admitted to Delaware demonstrate consistent academic achievement throughout secondary school, with grades concentrated primarily in the mid-to-high B and A ranges. Standardized test reporting has become less universal in recent cycles, meaning admissions reviewers evaluate classroom grades and overall course rigor thoroughly. For international students assessing their competitiveness, unofficial applicant cases collected by Forward Pathway, which are not official university figures, show an admitted student profile with a median unweighted GPA of 3.67 and a median SAT score of 1270. Prospective applicants aiming for Delaware should target academic credentials around these benchmarks to position their applications well within the typical pool of admitted students.

Delaware offers broad degree options where bachelor's candidates are spread across many disciplines, while top national rankings are concentrated in specific technical and clinical areas. The top three undergraduate majors—Finance, General, Speech Communication and Rhetoric, and Research and Experimental Psychology, Other—accounted for only 16.9% of bachelor's graduates in 2025. Finance was the largest undergraduate program with 297 graduates. While the most popular undergraduate majors are mostly in business and communication, Delaware's highest rankings appear in physical therapy and engineering. In U.S. News rankings, the graduate Physical Therapy program ranked 1st in 2026, and undergraduate Chemical Engineering ranked 5th in 2027. Early career compensation also favors technical and health fields: 2023 earnings data show that graduates in registered nursing earned a median of $88,340 one year out, followed by computer and information sciences at $83,257 and chemical engineering at $82,398.

The student body at the University of Delaware totaled 24,412 students in 2025, representing a largely undergraduate campus with an expanding advanced degree community. Undergraduate enrollment is predominantly female and primarily White, with diverse racial and regional backgrounds represented across every cohort. Among incoming undergraduate freshmen, Asian students numbered 263, making up 6% of the entering class. Representation remains comparable across returning undergraduate cohorts. International representation shows a sharp distinction between program levels. While international undergraduates make up a modest share of the four-year degree-seeking population, international students form a major component of advanced studies, accounting for 37.4% of the graduate student population. This demographic mix gives the Newark campus a predominantly domestic undergraduate culture alongside an internationally diverse graduate research environment.

Undergraduate life at the University of Delaware is defined almost entirely by traditional college-age students. In 2025, students aged 18 to 19 made up 44.5% of the undergraduate population, while those aged 20 to 21 accounted for 43.9%. This concentration of young adults shapes a residential campus structured around full-time daytime study, campus housing, and student organizations. By comparison, graduate students bring greater professional maturity to campus. The largest graduate group comprises students aged 25 to 29, representing 33.6% of graduate enrollment. This clear age division maintains a traditional college atmosphere for undergraduates while sustaining focused research groups at the post-baccalaureate level.

International enrollment at the University of Delaware shows distinct patterns between undergraduate and graduate divisions. At the undergraduate level, international students represented 5.6% of enrollment in 2025, reflecting an upward trend over the past decade. Graduate programs draw a substantially heavier international presence, with international scholars accounting for 37.4% of graduate students in 2025. When looking at degrees awarded, international graduates tend to concentrate heavily in specific disciplines. Among undergraduate majors, international students represented 19.9% of degree recipients in Finance, General. At the master's level, international students formed the vast majority of graduates in data and analytics fields, including 100% of master's degree recipients in Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Other. This distribution indicates that while international undergraduates participate primarily in popular business disciplines, graduate departments rely substantially on global talent in technical and quantitative programs.

Families exploring the University of Delaware can consider several peer institutions situated within easy driving distance. In nearby Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College is located 26.3 kilometers away and ranks 3rd among national liberal arts colleges in the 2027 U.S. News rankings. Also in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, Villanova University sits 33 kilometers from Delaware and holds the 42nd spot among national universities. Closer to downtown Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania is located 35.1 kilometers away, ranking 7th among national universities, while neighboring Drexel University is situated 35.4 kilometers away and ranks 80th in the same national university ranking. These nearby institutions offer a range of educational models, from elite liberal arts study to large urban research centers.

Campus safety at the University of Delaware has improved noticeably over the past decade. The institution recorded a crime rate per 1,000 students of 3.2 in 2025, down considerably from previous years. Looking at cumulative reports between 2023 and 2025, the most frequent disciplinary and safety category was liquor-law arrests, totaling 74 incidents across those years. During the same 2023 to 2025 period, interpersonal safety issues accounted for much of the remaining activity, including 63 reported stalking incidents, alongside smaller numbers of assaults and dating violence offenses. The low overall per-student crime rate indicates a generally regulated campus setting, though students should remain mindful of personal security and residential rules. For families evaluating campus life, Delaware provides a campus environment with relatively infrequent major criminal disruptions.