The University of Delaware (UD or UDel) is the largest university in the state of Delaware. The main campus is located in Newark, with satellite campuses in Dover, Wilmington, Lewes and Georgetown. It is medium-sized - approximately 16,000 undergraduate and 3,000 graduate students.

Although it is a state-supported school, it is privately chartered. At present, the school's endowment is valued at about USD$1.1 billion.The school from which the university grew was founded in 1743, making it one of the oldest in the nation. However, the University of Delaware was not chartered as an institution of higher learning until 1833. Its original class of 10 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 particularly substantial engineering, science, business, education, and agriculture programs, with world-class programs in chemical engineering, chemistry and biochemistry, drawing as it does from the historically strong presence of the nation's chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It is one of only four schools in North America with a major in art conservation.