What are the largest colleges in the United States?

First is Southern New Hampshire University at 163,164. The 50 colleges listed are ranked on the figure the college reported to the US Department of Education, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. The last place shown, number 50, is The University of Tennessee-Knoxville at 30,418.

Which colleges are counted and which are left out?

The federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used here: 144 private for-profit institutions and 236 with fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 1,564 of those met this page's criteria and the table shows the top 50.

Does this say anything about how good these colleges are?

No. This page orders colleges on one number a college reported to the federal government. It is not a quality ranking, it carries no survey, no reputation score and no weighting, and it says nothing about teaching, outcomes or fit. A cheaper college is not a better college and a more selective one is not either. It also states no admission probability, because none can be derived from public data.

Can I see what essays these colleges ask for?

39 of the 50 colleges in this table have a NudgeEssay requirements page carrying their 2026-27 essay prompts word for word, with word limits, application deadlines and the date each was read on the college's own admissions site. Those college names in the table are links. The rest are in the federal file but not in our prompt dataset, so each of their names links to its federal record instead.

The 50 largest colleges in the United States by undergraduate enrollment

Southern New Hampshire University reports the largest undergraduate enrollment of any four-year college in the federal file, at 163,164 students. The table below is the 50 largest of the 1,564 four-year US colleges that report an enrollment figure, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. Online and campus students are counted together, which is why several of the largest are primarily online institutions.

The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted. Every figure on this page is computed from the federal file when the page is built. See the method below for which colleges are counted and what each number is.

Updated 17 September 2026. Written and maintained by NudgeEssay; how facts on this site are sourced and corrected is on the about page.

The 50 colleges

Ranked on undergraduates, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. 39 of the 50 have a NudgeEssay page carrying their essay prompts word for word, and those names are links. A dash means the federal file carries no figure for that college, not a zero.

The 50 largest colleges in the United States by undergraduate enrollment
#	College	Where	Undergraduates	Admit rate
1	Southern New Hampshire University	Manchester, NHPrivate nonprofit	163,164	99.5%
2	Western Governors University	Salt Lake City, UTPrivate nonprofit	155,088	–
3	Grand Canyon University	Phoenix, AZPrivate nonprofit	73,371	78.9%
4	Arizona State University Campus Immersion	Tempe, AZPublic	64,674	89.9%
5	Texas A&M University-College Station	College Station, TXPublic	59,615	57.4%
6	University of Central Florida	Orlando, FLPublic	59,146	40.1%
7	Arizona State University Digital Immersion	Scottsdale, AZPublic	53,782	66.7%
8	Liberty University	Lynchburg, VAPrivate nonprofit	50,012	99.0%
9	University of Maryland Global Campus	Adelphi, MDPublic	49,664	–
10	Ohio State University-Main Campus	Columbus, OHPublic	45,638	60.6%
11	Purdue University-Main Campus	West Lafayette, INPublic	44,503	49.9%
12	The University of Texas at Austin	Austin, TXPublic	42,855	26.6%
13	University of Arizona	Tucson, AZPublic	42,537	86.1%
14	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	University Park, PAPublic	42,284	60.6%
15	Kennesaw State University	Kennesaw, GAPublic	41,254	69.2%
16	Michigan State University	East Lansing, MIPublic	40,922	84.8%
17	Florida International University	Miami, FLPublic	39,508	54.7%
18	California State University-Fullerton	Fullerton, CAPublic	38,546	90.5%
19	University of Houston	Houston, TXPublic	38,380	73.9%
20	Indiana University-Bloomington	Bloomington, INPublic	37,806	78.2%
21	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	New Brunswick, NJPublic	37,751	58.1%
22	University of South Florida	Tampa, FLPublic	37,207	43.2%
23	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Madison, WIPublic	36,902	45.2%
24	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Champaign, ILPublic	36,258	42.4%
25	Texas State University	San Marcos, TXPublic	36,177	89.3%
26	California State University-Long Beach	Long Beach, CAPublic	35,924	46.3%
27	University of Florida	Gainesville, FLPublic	35,629	24.2%
28	San Diego State University	San Diego, CAPublic	35,377	36.2%
29	University of California-San Diego	La Jolla, CAPublic	34,948	26.7%
30	University of North Texas	Denton, TXPublic	34,341	72.2%
31	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor, MIPublic	34,177	15.6%
32	University of California-Los Angeles	Los Angeles, CAPublic	33,475	9.0%
33	The University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, ALPublic	33,227	76.6%
34	University of California-Berkeley	Berkeley, CAPublic	33,068	11.0%
35	Brigham Young University	Provo, UTPrivate nonprofit	32,952	67.8%
36	California State University-Northridge	Northridge, CAPublic	32,691	93.5%
37	Texas Tech University	Lubbock, TXPublic	32,394	72.7%
38	The University of Texas at Arlington	Arlington, TXPublic	32,294	79.9%
39	University of California-Davis	Davis, CAPublic	32,253	41.8%
40	Florida State University	Tallahassee, FLPublic	32,212	24.2%
41	University of Georgia	Athens, GAPublic	32,137	37.7%
42	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	Seattle, WAPublic	31,942	39.1%
43	University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder, COPublic	31,939	78.1%
44	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	Minneapolis, MNPublic	31,855	79.8%
45	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Blacksburg, VAPublic	30,923	54.8%
46	University of Maryland-College Park	College Park, MDPublic	30,760	44.8%
47	Oregon State University	Corvallis, ORPublic	30,743	77.3%
48	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	Baton Rouge, LAPublic	30,594	73.3%
49	The University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio, TXPublic	30,580	86.8%
50	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	Knoxville, TNPublic	30,418	41.6%

Method

Source: the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data, pulled on 2026-09-17 from the bulk download. Every college in it reports these figures to the US Department of Education itself.

UGDS in the College Scorecard is the enrollment of undergraduate degree-seeking and certificate-seeking students. It counts enrolled students, not applications, and it does not separate online from on-campus.

Counted: the federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used on this page family. 144 private for-profit institutions are excluded, and 236 reporting fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 1,564 met this page’s criteria and the table shows the top 50.

The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted. No admission probability is stated anywhere on this site, because none can be derived from public data: colleges do not publish admit rates conditional on a score, so any single percentage would be invented. The free chance me tool and college finder sort a list into reaches, targets and likelies from the same federal figures and give no percentage either.

The federal file behind this family carries no earnings column, so no list here says anything about what graduates are paid. Rather than estimate one, this site says what is missing. What one named college costs after aid, income band by income band, is on its own page in the cost family. Our own essay dataset, which is a different source, is described on the supplemental essay data page.

Questions

What are the largest colleges in the United States?: First is Southern New Hampshire University at 163,164. The 50 colleges listed are ranked on the figure the college reported to the US Department of Education, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. The last place shown, number 50, is The University of Tennessee-Knoxville at 30,418.
Where does this ranking come from?: From the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data, pulled on 2026-09-17. UGDS in the College Scorecard is the enrollment of undergraduate degree-seeking and certificate-seeking students. It counts enrolled students, not applications, and it does not separate online from on-campus. The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted.
Which colleges are counted and which are left out?: The federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used here: 144 private for-profit institutions and 236 with fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 1,564 of those met this page's criteria and the table shows the top 50.
Does this say anything about how good these colleges are?: No. This page orders colleges on one number a college reported to the federal government. It is not a quality ranking, it carries no survey, no reputation score and no weighting, and it says nothing about teaching, outcomes or fit. A cheaper college is not a better college and a more selective one is not either. It also states no admission probability, because none can be derived from public data.
Can I see what essays these colleges ask for?: 39 of the 50 colleges in this table have a NudgeEssay requirements page carrying their 2026-27 essay prompts word for word, with word limits, application deadlines and the date each was read on the college's own admissions site. Those college names in the table are links. The rest are in the federal file but not in our prompt dataset, so each of their names links to its federal record instead.

The other rankings in this set

All computed from the same federal file, pulled on 2026-09-17, with the same pool and the same exclusions.

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