UD one of South's (not North's?) most beautiful colleges

Ask just about anyone in Delaware and they'll tell you the state is east and north of the Mason-Dixon Line, the geographic boundary that separates the North from the South in the United States. 

But that doesn't mean Delaware is a northern state. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the First State is part of the South, lumped together with states like Virgina, Alabama and Lousiana for the purposes of regional surveys. 

Perhaps that's why once again this year the Alabama-based magazine Southern Living has named the University of Delaware one of the South's most beautiful colleges. 

In fact, UD is fourth on the list. 

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Andrea Boyle, a spokeswoman for UD, said it is not an uncommon occurrence for the university to be featured on the magazine's website. 

"We're typically on that list," she said. 

As for what makes UD beautiful, here's what Southern Living has to say: "Many institutions of higher learning are the centerpieces of quaint 'college towns,' but the University of Delaware is smack-dab in the middle of Newark. (...) Students can stroll a classic downtown scene as easily as they can amble past the Jeffersonian architecture of the historic buildings on campus. They’re reminiscent of the University of Virginia, with their regal red brick and white trim. Students congregate on The Green, backed by historic Memorial Hall and the Hugh M. Morris Library, a space that originally helped unite the all-male Delaware College and the Women’s College of Delaware in 1917 to create one campus." 

The campus has modern components, as well. Since 1950, UD has quadrupled its enrollment and greatly expanded. 

In 2009, the university purchased a 272-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Newark campus that previously had been a Chrysler Plant. That site, now the Science, Technology and Advanced Research Campus, is home to the university's Health Sciences Complex and is being developed as a space combining business, research, education and more.

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UD is included on Southern Living's list along with institutions like the University of Alabama, Hendrix College in Arkansas, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Oxford-look-alike Berry College in Georgia and the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland. 

Fun facts

• The University of Delaware is comprised of 451 buildings, which combined have over 9 million square feet of space. 
• The Newark campus is on 970 acres of land. UD occupies 2,012 acres of land statewide. 
• UD was founded in 1743 and relocated to Newark in 1765. In 1867, the college was designated one of the nation's historic Land Grant colleges.

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies. Looking for more education news? Visit http://www.delawareonline.com/news/education/.