DSU Earns Top 5 Public HBCU Ranking, No. 10 Overall
US News & World Report (USNWR) Releases its 2026 College Rankings
University ranked Top 5 Public HBCU for the seventh consecutive year, No. 10 overall
USNWR ranking comes on the heels of No. 2 ranking from Forbes for HBCUs online this past summer
Strong performance in economic mobility, student retention and financial support for instruction and learning
Overall enrollment expected to surpass historic levels
The latest U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) college rankings place Delaware State University among the Top 5 Public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the country and in the Top 10 overall for the seventh and ninth year, respectively. There are 101 HBCUs in the country; 47 are public. Among the publics, only Florida A&M University, North Carolina A&T University, and Morgan State University in Baltimore ranked higher than Delaware State this year.
Brooke Malson, a senior majoring in Mass Communications/Digital Media Production from Newark, Del., said she is not surprised that DSU continues to be ranked among the top HBCUs. “I feel like every year DSU grows and gets even better, not just in terms of academics but also in HBCU culture,” Ms. Malson said. “The unity on campus keeps growing. It is like a big cookout that never ends.”
Although regularly critiqued, the U.S. News & World Report rankings are generally considered the gold standard among higher education observers. Their latest report follows a summer Forbes ranking of highly regarded online programs, which placed the University No. 2 in the HBCU community, highlighting our emphasis on online programming and our new eHBCU platform, in addition to our traditional undergraduate and graduate programs (click eHBCU.edu for more details).
The USNWR rankings are published annually to provide prospective students and their families with comparative metrics of undergraduate programs at colleges and universities in the United States. The rankings offer detailed information about the institution’s outcome measures and encompass more than 17 indicators of performance, including economic mobility, graduation and retention rates, graduate indebtedness, and post-graduate earnings.
“As the most diverse and contemporary HBCU in the country, Delaware State University’s high standing, immense academic offerings, and its rich cultural campus environment continue to attract students from all over the country to DSU,” said Dr. Kareem McLemore, Vice President of Strategic Enrollment Management and International Affairs. “The latest USNWR HBCU ranking confirms the ever-ascending excellence of DSU and is affirmed by the record number of students who are attracted to this unique higher education experience.”
The University recently surpassed its new student enrollment record, with more than 1,600 new and transfer students, welcoming the largest incoming class in the University’s 134-year history—a 14% increase over last year. It is also notable that among the Delaware students, 75% of the in-state new students are Inspire Scholars, a full-tuition, state-sponsored program for graduating Delaware high school seniors. This year’s Inspire Scholars have an average GPA of 3.57. The University expects overall enrollment, which will be reported in November, to reach historic highs as well.
Coming off the heels of a grand opening of the Agilent Hub for Agriculture, Innovation, and Extension, a $20 million public-private partnership between the University, Agilent Technologies, USDA, and Delaware Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University President Tony Allen commented on the rankings, “We care about finding the right mix of students from all backgrounds and ability who we know want to do two things: 1) change the economic trajectory of the lives for their families and communities; and 2) find their place of usefulness and honor in the world. These rankings are not a destination for us, but they are an important marker that we are providing fundamental resources for their success and holding ourselves accountable every step of the way.” He continued, “Our new Agilent Hub, which will spur on scholarships, quality mentorship experiences, and paid internships, was built with our students and those markers in mind.”
