Education

Public Schools

Wilmington is served by the Colonial, Red Clay, Brandywine, and Christina School Districts for K-12 public education.  There are also a bevy of private schools in and around the city.

Colonial School District

318 E. Basin Road

New Castle, DE  19720

(302) 323-2700

www.colonial.k12.de.us

Colonial School District is mainly in New Castle to the south of Wilmington.

Red Clay Consolidated School District

4550 New Linden Hill Rd

Wilmington, DE 19808

(302) 552-3700

www.redclay.k12.de.us

Red Clay covers northwestern Wilmington and suburbs to Pennsylvania.  It serves about 16,000 students in its 29 schools.

Brandywine School District

1000 Pennsylvania Ave

Claymont, Delaware  19703

(302) 793-5000

www.bsd.k12.de.us

Brandywine covers northeastern Wilmington to Claymont.  Enrollment is nearly 11,000 students in 18 different buildings.

Christina School District

600 North Lombard St

Wilmington, DE  19801

(302) 552-2600

www.christina.k12.de.us

Christina is the largest school district in Delaware.  It serves more than 19,000 students, and mainly covers southwest Wilmington to Newark

Higher Education

Community Colleges

Community colleges exist for two major purposes. The first is to serve as a bridge from high school to college by providing courses for transfer toward a bachelor’s degree. Four out of 10 collegebound high-school graduates start their college education this way.

The second function of community colleges is to prepare students for the job market by offering entry-level career training as well as courses for adult students who want to upgrade their skills for the workplace. They often offer programs that are not available at four-year schools, like fashion design.

Liberal Arts Colleges

Liberal arts colleges offer a broad base of courses in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Most are private and focus mainly on undergraduate students. Classes tend to be small and personal attention is available.

Online Learning

Recent years have witnessed the rise of online degree programs, to allow the busy professional a chance to work at their own pace from the comfort of their home on the path to getting a degree. The costs to students are typically the same as for traditional classes- and financial aid is equally available-while the cost to the institution can be much less.

There are online universities ranging from legitimate distance learning systems to fly-by-night degree-mills. It’s important to research a particular institution before deciding to enroll in their system. Generally, brick-and-mortar schools that also offer online classes are the safest, though there are plenty of fully accredited online universities out there.

Nearly 3 million students are believed to be taking online classes at institutions of higher education in the United States this year. That number has been growing about 25% a year recently. Now, virtually all public higher education institutions, as well as a vast majority of private, for-profit institutions, now offer online classes. By contrast, only about half of private, nonprofit schools offer them. Online schools offer everything from Associate’s degrees to Doctoral programs with available emphases in everything from Business Administration to Criminal Justice to Nursing. Some programs require students to attend some campus classes or orientations, but many are delivered completely online. Online courses generally require a computer with a broadband connection, but are now a serious option for the busy professional.

Public vs. Private

Public colleges are usually less expensive, particularly for in-state residents. They get most of their money from the state or local government. Private colleges rely on tuition, fees, endowments, and other private sources. Private colleges are usually smaller and can offer more personalized attention and often more prestige.

Universities

Generally, a university is bigger than a college and offers more majors and research facilities. Class size often reflects institutional size and some classes may taught by graduate students.

Upper Division

Upper-division schools offer the last two years of undergraduate study, usually in specialized programs leading to a bachelor’s degree. Students then generally transfer to an upper-division college after completing an associate degree or after finishing a second year of study at a four-year college.

Wilmington College

320 DuPont Highway

New Castle, DE 19720

(302) 328-9401

http://www.wilmu.edu/

Wilmington College is a private school that has more than 10,000 students.  It has 6 locations throughout the state of Delaware; the main campus is just outside Wilmington in New Castle.

Delaware College of Art and Design

600 N. Market Street,

Wilmington, DE 19801

(302) 622-8000

www.dcad.edu

DCAD is a top art school created by a partnership between New York’s Pratt Institute and Washington DC’s Corcoran School.  DCAD grads can either stop with a 2 year associates degree or continue to a 4 year degree at either of these two top tier schools.

University of Delaware

Newark, Delaware 19716

(302) 831-2792

www.udel.edu

Three members of the university’s original class signed the Declaration of Independence.  The main campus is 12 miles west in Newark, but there is a satellite branch in Wilmington.  About 16,000 attend in the system.

Delaware Technical and Community College

333 Shipley Street

Wilmington, Delaware  19801

(302) 571-5300

www.dtcc.edu

The state community college system was founded in the 1960s and has 4 locations through Delaware.  The Wilmington branch is located in the heart of downtown.

Widener University

Wilmington Campus – School of Law

4601 Concord Pike

P.O. Box 7474

Wilmington, DE 19803

302-477-2100

www.law.widener.edu

The main campus of Widener University is just south of Pennsylvania, but the Law school finds its home just north of Wilmington.  The school has many specialized law programs, including a top-ten health law program.