How many students at Northwestern? For the academic year 2024-2025, a total of 23,856 students have enrolled in Northwestern University with 9,399 undergraduate and 14,457 graduate students.
By gender, 10,696 male and 13,160 female students are attending the school.
It has more students compared to similar colleges (19,644 students on average - private (not-for-profit) Research University (very high research activity)).
781 students are enrolled exclusively, and 1,509 students are enrolled in some online courses.
You can check the student demographics by gender ratio, race/ethnicity, age distribution, and online enrollment.
Northwestern University has a total of 23,856 enrolled students for the academic year 2024-2025. 9,399 students have enrolled in undergraduate programs and 14,457 students joined graduate programs.
By gender, 10,696 male and 13,160 female students (the male-female ratio is 45:55) are attending the school.
| Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 23,856 | 9,399 | 14,457 |
| Men | 10,696 | 4,254 | 6,442 |
| Women | 13,160 | 5,145 | 8,015 |
By race/ethnicity, 7,840 White, 1,543 Black, and 3,808 Asian students out of a total of 23,856 are attending at Northwestern University. Comprehensive enrollment statistic data by race/ethnicity is shown in the chart below (academic year 2024-2025 data).
Northwestern University is highly diverse with a diversity index of 84.4% measured by Census Bureau Diversity Index. The institution demonstrates strong racial and ethnic diversity among its student body.
| Race | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Indian or Native American | 29 | 12 | 17 |
| Asian | 3,808 | 1,705 | 2,103 |
| Black | 1,543 | 606 | 937 |
| Hispanic | 2,521 | 1,058 | 1,463 |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| White | 7,840 | 3,540 | 4,300 |
| Two or more races | 1,176 | 486 | 690 |
| Race Unknown | 1,691 | 594 | 1,097 |
| Race | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Indian or Native American | 14 | 6 | 8 |
| Asian | 1,968 | 908 | 1,060 |
| Black | 779 | 305 | 474 |
| Hispanic | 1,459 | 614 | 845 |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| White | 2,856 | 1,359 | 1,497 |
| Two or more races | 728 | 317 | 411 |
| Race Unknown | 519 | 214 | 305 |
| Race | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Indian or Native American | 15 | 6 | 9 |
| Asian | 1,840 | 797 | 1,043 |
| Black | 764 | 301 | 463 |
| Hispanic | 1,062 | 444 | 618 |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| White | 4,984 | 2,181 | 2,803 |
| Two or more races | 448 | 169 | 279 |
| Race Unknown | 1,172 | 380 | 792 |
By age, Northwestern has 115 students under 18 years old and 20 students over 65 years old. There are 12,991 students under 25 years old, and 10,202 students over 25 years old out of 23,203 total students.
In undergraduate programs, 114 students are younger than 18 and 4 students are older than 65. Northwestern has 8,878 undergraduate students aged under 25 and 277 students aged 25 and over.
In graduate schools at Northwestern, 1 students are younger than 18 and 16 students are older than 65. It has 4,113 graduate students aged under 25 and 9,925 students aged 25 and over.
*The age distribution is based on 2023-2024 enrollment data.
| Age | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 115 | 73 | 42 |
| 18-19 | 3,877 | 2,133 | 1,744 |
| 20-21 | 4,386 | 2,450 | 1,936 |
| 22-24 | 4,613 | 2,746 | 1,867 |
| 25-29 | 5,521 | 2,951 | 2,570 |
| 30-34 | 2,435 | 1,151 | 1,284 |
| 35-39 | 1,023 | 497 | 526 |
| 40-49 | 912 | 491 | 421 |
| 50-64 | 291 | 189 | 102 |
| Over 65 | 20 | 7 | 13 |
| Age | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 114 | 72 | 42 |
| 18-19 | 3,875 | 2,132 | 1,743 |
| 20-21 | 4,216 | 2,333 | 1,883 |
| 22-24 | 673 | 291 | 382 |
| 25-29 | 90 | 55 | 35 |
| 30-34 | 54 | 31 | 23 |
| 35-39 | 39 | 32 | 7 |
| 40-49 | 66 | 57 | 9 |
| 50-64 | 24 | 20 | 4 |
| Over 65 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Age | Total | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 18-19 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 20-21 | 170 | 117 | 53 |
| 22-24 | 3,940 | 2,455 | 1,485 |
| 25-29 | 5,431 | 2,896 | 2,535 |
| 30-34 | 2,381 | 1,120 | 1,261 |
| 35-39 | 984 | 465 | 519 |
| 40-49 | 846 | 434 | 412 |
| 50-64 | 267 | 169 | 98 |
| Over 65 | 16 | 5 | 11 |
Distance learning, also called online education, is very attractive to students, especially those who want to continue education and work in the field. At Northwestern University, 781 students are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 1,509 students are enrolled in some online courses.
252 students who live in Illinois or the jurisdiction in which the school is located are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 529 students live in another State or outside of the United States.
| All Students | Enrolled Exclusively Online Courses | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Students | 23,856 | 781 | 1,509 |
| Undergraduate | 9,399 | 0 | 16 |
| Graduate | 14,457 | 781 | 1,493 |
| Illinois Residents | Other States in U.S. | Outside of U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Students | 252 | 431 | 98 |
| Undergraduate | - | - | - |
| Graduate | 252 | 431 | 98 |
Among 9,399 enrolled in undergraduate programs, 277 students have transferred-in from other institutions. The percentage of transfer-in students is 2.95%.276 students have transferred in as full-time status and 1 students transferred in as part-time status.
| Number of Students | |
|---|---|
| Regular Full-time | 8,744 |
| Transfer-in Full-time | 276 |
| Regular Part-time | 378 |
| Transfer-in Part-time | 1 |
Share your experiences and thoughts about Northwestern University. It will be a great help to applicants and prospective students!