The country’s largest colleges aren’t always a single enormous campus packed with students.
From giant historic flagships to statewide community colleges, the biggest school in each state can look very different. But those who prefer larger colleges gain access to more majors, extracurriculars, and a diverse student body.
Business Insider compiled a list of every state’s largest college using provisional fall 2024 data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
To better reflect the size of colleges’ in-person student populations, we subtracted students enrolled exclusively online from each institution’s total enrollment number. We then ranked schools using that adjusted figure. Students taking a mix of online and in-person classes remained in the count.
This means online-only or online-heavy institutions, such as the University of Maryland Global Campus, did not necessarily rank first, despite having overall larger student populations than other institutions in their states.
Some of the colleges in this ranking encompass more than one physical campus. Depending on the institution, the data may cover one campus or several campuses and locations reported together. Where IPEDS specifies a campus, that name is included in the slide description.
Because the data is provisional, they’re not necessarily an exact final count of how many students attended that fall.
Here are the largest colleges by enrollment in every state, excluding exclusively online students.
ALABAMA: The University of Alabama
Enrollment: 40,846
Exclusively online: 15.40%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 34,557
ALASKA: University of Alaska Anchorage
Enrollment: 10,493
Exclusively online: 32.34%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 7,100
IPEDS data covers: The IPEDS institution includes UAA’s Anchorage and community campuses.
ARIZONA: Arizona State University
Enrollment: 79,818
Exclusively online: 4.81%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 7,5981
IPEDS data covers: Arizona State University Campus Immersion
ARKANSAS: University of Arkansas
Enrollment: 33,610
Exclusively online: 10.03%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 30,239
CALIFORNIA: University of California, Los Angeles
Enrollment: 47,335
Exclusively online: 1.66%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 46,550
COLORADO: University of Colorado Boulder
Enrollment: 38,799
Exclusively online: 2.05%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 38,002
DELAWARE: University of Delaware
Enrollment: 24,412
Exclusively online: 7.12%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 22,673
FLORIDA: University of Central Florida
Enrollment: 69,713
Exclusively online: 17.94%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 57,205
GEORGIA: University of Georgia
Enrollment: 43,146
Exclusively online: 3.86%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 41,482
HAWAII: University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
Enrollment: 20,028
Exclusively online: 7.78%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 18,470
IDAHO: Boise State University
Enrollment: 27,198
Exclusively online: 19.27%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 21,957
ILLINOIS: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Enrollment: 59,238
Exclusively online: 15.55%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 50,026
IOWA: Iowa State University
Enrollment: 30,380
Exclusively online: 3.20%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 29,408
KANSAS: University of Kansas
Enrollment: 29,792
Exclusively online: 10.49%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 26,666
KENTUCKY: University of Kentucky
Enrollment: 34,709
Exclusively online: 14.59%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 29,646
LOUISIANA: Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Enrollment: 41,705
Exclusively online: 12.30%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 36,576
MAINE: University of Maine
Enrollment: 12,029
Exclusively online: 20.50%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 9,563
MARYLAND: University of Maryland
Enrollment: 41,725
Exclusively online: 4.00%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 40,057
IPEDS data covers: University of Maryland-College Park
MASSACHUSETTS: Boston University
Enrollment: 37,737
Exclusively online: 14.37%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 32,314
MICHIGAN: University of Michigan
Enrollment: 52,855
Exclusively online: 2.80%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 51,376
IPEDS data covers: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
MINNESOTA: University of Minnesota
Enrollment: 56,666
Exclusively online: 3.63%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 54,608
IPEDS data covers: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
MISSISSIPPI: University of Mississippi
Enrollment: 26,449
Exclusively online: 7.20%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 24,545
MISSOURI: University of Missouri
Enrollment: 31,543
Exclusively online: 11.28%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 27,986
IPEDS data covers: University of Missouri-Columbia
MONTANA: Montana State University
Enrollment: 17,135
Exclusively online: 5.30%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 16,226
NEBRASKA: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Enrollment: 24,393
Exclusively online: 6.96%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 22,696
NEVADA: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Enrollment: 32,911
Exclusively online: 11.67%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 29,071
NEW HAMPSHIRE: University of New Hampshire
Enrollment: 13,554
Exclusively online: 4.89%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 12,891
IPEDS data covers: University of New Hampshire-Main Campus
NEW JERSEY: Rutgers University
Enrollment: 52,269
Exclusively online: 7.56%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 48,316
IPEDS data covers: Rutgers University-New Brunswick
NEW MEXICO: University of New Mexico
Enrollment: 23,124
Exclusively online: 15.74%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 19,484
IPEDS data covers: University of New Mexico-Main Campus
NEW YORK: New York University
Enrollment: 56,832
Exclusively online: 6.15%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 53,339
NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina State University
Enrollment: 38,464
Exclusively online: 7.68%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 35,510
IPEDS data covers: North Carolina State University at Raleigh
NORTH DAKOTA: North Dakota State University
Enrollment: 11,952
Exclusively online: 8.82%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 10,898
IPEDS data covers: North Dakota State University-Main Campus
OHIO: Ohio State University
Enrollment: 61,443
Exclusively online: 6.47%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 57,468
IPEDS data covers: Ohio State University-Main Campus
OKLAHOMA: University of Oklahoma
Enrollment: 30,851
Exclusively online: 15.69%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 26,009
IPEDS data covers: University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus
OREGON: Oregon State University
Enrollment: 37,163
Exclusively online: 35.20%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 24,080
IPEDS data covers: Students associated with more than one OSU location.
PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania State University
Enrollment: 50,737
Exclusively online: 0.63%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 50,416
IPEDS data covers: Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
RHODE ISLAND: University of Rhode Island
Enrollment: 17,210
Exclusively online: 4.75%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 16,392
SOUTH CAROLINA: University of South Carolina
Enrollment: 38,532
Exclusively online: 9.13%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 35,013
IPEDS data covers: University of South Carolina-Columbia
SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota State University
Enrollment: 12,056
Exclusively online: 19.08%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 9,756
TENNESSEE: University of Tennessee
Enrollment: 38,728
Exclusively online: 8.20%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 35,552
IPEDS data covers: The University of Tennessee-Knoxville
TEXAS: Texas A&M University
Enrollment: 78,321
Exclusively online: 5.55%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 73,971
IPEDS data covers: Texas A&M University-College Station
UTAH: Utah Valley University
Enrollment: 46,807
Exclusively online: 14.22%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 40,152
VERMONT: University of Vermont
Enrollment: 14,476
Exclusively online: 3.15%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 14,020
WASHINGTON: University of Washington
Enrollment: 56,997
Exclusively online: 2.91%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 55,341
IPEDS data covers: University of Washington-Seattle Campus
WEST VIRGINIA: West Virginia University
Enrollment: 23,643
Exclusively online: 12.51%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 20,685
WISCONSIN: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Enrollment: 51,044
Exclusively online: 2.85%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 49,590
WYOMING: University of Wyoming
Enrollment: 10,813
Exclusively online: 20.97%
Enrollment, excluding students exclusively online: 8,545
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