The higher-education institutions listed below represent the biggest colleges and universities in the United States by enrollment. The 2012 AS&U Higher Education 20 — a compilation of the nation's 20 largest higher education institutions — also provides the following data:
| Rank | Institution | Location | Enrollment (Fall 2010) | Enrollment (Fall 2009) | 1-Year Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Phoenix-Online Campus | Phoenix | 307,965 | 380,232 | -19.01% |
| 2 | Kaplan University-Davenport Campus | Davenport, IA | 77,966 | 71,011 | 9.79% |
| 3 | Arizona State University | Tempe, AZ | 70,440 | 68,064 | 3.49% |
| 4 | Ashford University | Clinton, IA | 63,096 | 46,835 | 34.72% |
| 5 | Miami Dade College | Miami | 61,674 | 59,120 | 4.32% |
| 6 | Houston Community College | Houston | 60,303 | 54,942 | 9.76% |
| 7 | Liberty University | Lynchburg, VA | 56,625 | 46,312 | 22.27% |
| 8 | University of Central Florida | Orlando | 56,106 | 53,401 | 5.07% |
| 9 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | Columbus, OH | 56,064 | 55,014 | 1.91% |
| 10 | Lone Star College System | The Woodlands, TX | 54,412 | 46,504 | 17.00% |
| 11 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | Minneapolis | 51,721 | 51,659 | 0.12% |
| 12 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX | 51,195 | 50,995 | 0.39% |
| 13 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL | 49,827 | 50,691 | -1.70% |
| 14 | Texas A & M University-College Station | College Station, TX | 49,129 | 48,702 | 0.88% |
| 15 | Tarrant County College District | Fort Worth, TX | 49,108 | 44,355 | 10.72% |
| 16 | Northern Virginia Community College | Annandale, VA | 48,996 | 46,619 | 5.10% |
| 17 | Walden University | Minneapolis | 47,456 | 40,714 | 16.56% |
| 18 | Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI | 46,985 | 47,071 | -0.18% |
| 19 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | University Park, PA | 45,233 | 45,185 | 0.11% |
| 20 | Austin Community College District | Austin, TX | 44,100 | 40,248 | 9.57% |
| 21 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL | 43,862 | 43,881 | -0.04% |
| 22 | New York University | New York | 43,797 | 43,404 | 0.91% |
| 23 | College of Southern Nevada | Las Vegas | 42,747 | 42,108 | 1.52% |
| 24 | Indiana University-Bloomington | Bloomington, IN | 42,464 | 42,347 | 0.28% |
| 25 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | Seattle | 42,451 | 45,943 | -7.60% |
| 26 | Florida International University | Miami | 42,197 | 39,610 | 6.53% |
| 27 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Madison, WI | 42,180 | 41,654 | 1.26% |
| 28 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, MI | 41,924 | 41,674 | 0.60% |
| 29 | Valencia College | Orlando | 41,583 | 39,008 | 6.60% |
| 30 | Purdue University-Main Campus | West Lafayette, IN | 41,063 | 41,052 | 0.03% |
| 31 | DeVry University-Illinois | Chicago | 40,859 | 30,127 | 35.62% |
| 32 | University of South Florida-Main Campus | Tampa, FL | 40,431 | 40,022 | 1.02% |
| 33 | Florida State University | Tallahassee, FL | 40,416 | 39,785 | 1.59% |
| 34 | Broward College | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 40,375 | 37,360 | 8.07% |
| 35 | University of Maryland-University College | Adelphi, MD | 39,577 | 37,347 | 5.97% |
| 36 | Capella University | Minneapolis | 39,457 | 31,998 | 23.31% |
| 37 | American Public University System | Charles Town, WV | 39,296 | 31,331 | 25.42% |
| 38 | University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ | 39,086 | 38,767 | 0.82% |
| 39 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | New Brunswick, NJ | 38,912 | 37,366 | 4.14% |
| 40 | University of Houston | Houston | 38,752 | 37,000 | 4.74% |
| 41 | University of California-Los Angeles | Los Angeles | 38,157 | 38,550 | -1.02% |
| 42 | University of Maryland-College Park | College Park, MD | 37,641 | 37,195 | 1.20% |
| 43 | Grand Canyon University | Phoenix | 37,440 | 34,205 | 9.46% |
| 44 | Temple University | Philadelphia | 37,367 | 36,507 | 2.36% |
| 45 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles | 36,896 | 34,824 | 5.95% |
| 46 | Pima Community College | Tucson, AZ | 36,823 | 35,880 | 2.63% |
| 47 | University of North Texas | Denton, TX | 36,305 | 35,003 | 3.72% |
| 48 | University of California-Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | 35,833 | 35,830 | 0.01% |
| 49 | California State University-Fullerton | Fullerton, CA | 35,590 | 36,262 | -1.85% |
| 50 | California State University-Northridge | Northridge, CA | 35,272 | 35,198 | 0.21% |
