The University of Delaware (UD) is the largest university in Delaware. The main campus is in Newark, with satellite campuses in Dover, Wilmington, Lewes and Georgetown. It is medium-sized — approximately 16,000 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students. Although UD receives public funding for being a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant and urban-grant state-supported research institution, it is also privately chartered. At present, the school's endowment is valued at about $1.3975 billion US. The University of Delaware is ranked 71st by US News in the category of "Best National Universities." [1] In 2009, UD ranked No. 22 in the in-state category of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine's list of the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, and No. 18 for out-of-state.

The school from which the university grew was founded in 1743, making it one of the oldest in the nation. However, UD was not chartered as an institution of higher learning until 1833. Its original class of ten students included George Read, Thomas McKean, and James Smith, all three of whom would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence.

The school has engineering, science, business, education, urban affairs and public policy, public administration, agriculture, history, chemical engineering, chemistry and biochemistry programs, among others, drawing from the historically strong presence of the nation's chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the state of Delaware. In 2006, UD's engineering program was ranked number 10 in the nation by The Princeton Review. It is one of only four schools in North America with a major in art conservation.

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