Student Population at NKU

How many students at NKU?

For the academic year 2024-2025, Northern Kentucky University has a total enrollment of 15,347 students, including 10,163 undergraduate and 5,184 graduate students.

Gender Breakdown: 5,697 male students (37.1%) and 9,650 female students (62.9%) are attending .
Race and Ethnicity Breakdown: The two largest race/ethnicity groups are 11,428 White students (74.5%) and 1,504 Black students (9.8%).
Class Level Breakdown: 10,163 undergraduate students (66.2%) and 5,184 graduate students (33.8%).
Class Delivery: 6,624 students are enrolled online exclusively, while 4,682 students take a hybrid mix of online and on-campus courses.

Compared to similar public Doctoral / Research University - which average 13,360 - NKU's body is relatively large.

Explore complete student demographics below, including gender ratio, race and ethnicity, age distribution, and distance learning statistics.

Explore Northern Kentucky University

Enrollment by Gender and Class Level

By gender, 5,697 male (37.12%) and 9,650 female (62.88%) students are attending Northern Kentucky University. The number of male students per 100 females students (male-to-female ratio) is 59.04.

By class level, 10,163 (66.22%) are undergraduate students and 5,184 (33.78%) are graduate students. Among undergraduates, 41.48% are male and 58.52% are female, while among graduate students, 28.57% are male and 71.43% are female.

Total Student Enrolled By Gender
	Total	Undergraduate	Graduate
Total	15,347	10,163	5,184
Men	5,697	4,216	1,481
Women	9,650	5,947	3,703

Student Distribution by Race/Ethnicity

By race/ethnicity, 11,428 White, 1,504 Black, and 353 Asian students out of a total of 15,347 are attending at Northern Kentucky University. Comprehensive enrollment statistic data by race/ethnicity is shown in the chart below (academic year 2024-2025 data).

Northern Kentucky University is somewhat diverse with a diversity index of 43.2% measured by Census Bureau Diversity Index. The institution shows moderate representation of multiple racial and ethnic groups.

All Students

Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Total)
Race	Total	Men	Women
American Indian or Native American	18	4	14
Asian	353	129	224
Black	1,504	485	1,019
Hispanic	671	237	434
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders	8	4	4
White	11,428	4,250	7,178
Two or more races	524	171	353
Race Unknown	395	163	232

Undergraduate

Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Undergraduate)
Race	Total	Men	Women
American Indian or Native American	10	4	6
Asian	197	83	114
Black	727	276	451
Hispanic	514	196	318
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders	3	1	2
White	7,736	3,231	4,505
Two or more races	395	137	258
Race Unknown	267	110	157

Graduate

Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Graduate)
Race	Total	Men	Women
American Indian or Native American	8	0	8
Asian	156	46	110
Black	777	209	568
Hispanic	157	41	116
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders	5	3	2
White	3,692	1,019	2,673
Two or more races	129	34	95
Race Unknown	128	53	75

Student Age Distribution

By age, NKU has 1,487 students under 18 years old and 60 students over 65 years old. There are 9,097 students under 25 years old, and 6,250 students over 25 years old out of 15,347 total students.

In undergraduate programs, 1,487 students are younger than 18 and 31 students are older than 65. NKU has 8,269 undergraduate students aged under 25 and 1,894 students aged 25 and over.

It has 828 graduate students aged under 25 and 4,356 students aged 25 and over.

All Students

Student Age Distribution (Total)
Age	Total	Men	Women
Under 18	1,487	899	588
18-19	2,409	1,440	969
20-21	2,687	1,569	1,118
22-24	2,514	1,443	1,071
25-29	1,950	1,246	704
30-34	1,283	852	431
35-39	1,031	730	301
40-49	1,385	1,034	351
50-64	541	409	132
Over 65	60	28	32

Undergraduate

Student Age Distribution (Undergraduate)
Age	Total	Men	Women
Under 18	1,487	899	588
18-19	2,407	1,438	969
20-21	2,622	1,531	1,091
22-24	1,753	929	824
25-29	713	376	337
30-34	407	243	164
35-39	294	193	101
40-49	329	240	89
50-64	120	85	35
Over 65	31	13	18

Graduate

Student Age Distribution (Graduate)
Age	Total	Men	Women
18-19	2	2	0
20-21	65	38	27
22-24	761	514	247
25-29	1,237	870	367
30-34	876	609	267
35-39	737	537	200
40-49	1,056	794	262
50-64	421	324	97
Over 65	29	15	14

Online Student Enrollment

Distance learning, also called online education, is very attractive to students, especially those who want to continue education and work in the field. At Northern Kentucky University, 6,624 students are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 4,682 students are enrolled in some online courses.

3,745 students who live in Kentucky or the jurisdiction in which the school is located are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 2,879 students live in another State or outside of the United States.

Online Population

Online Student Population
	All Students	Enrolled Exclusively Online Courses	Enrolled in Some Online Courses
All Students	15,347	6,624	4,682
Undergraduate	10,163	2,457	4,246
Graduate	5,184	4,167	436

By Locality

Online Student Population by Locality
	Kentucky Residents	Other States in U.S.	Outside of U.S.
All Students	3,745	2,869	10
Undergraduate	1,814	637	6
Graduate	1,931	2,232	4

Transfer-in Students (Undergraduate)

Among 10,163 enrolled in undergraduate programs, 896 students have transferred-in from other institutions. The percentage of transfer-in students is 8.82%.591 students have transferred in as full-time status and 305 students transferred in as part-time status.

Transfer-in Students (Undergraduate)
	Number of Students
Regular Full-time	6,479
Transfer-in Full-time	591
Regular Part-time	2,788
Transfer-in Part-time	305

NKU Enrollment Frequently Asked Questions

How many students attend NKU?

For the academic year 2024-2025, 15,347 students are enrolled at NKU.

How many undergraduate and graduate students are at NKU?

10,163 undergraduate and 5,184 graduate students are enrolled at NKU.

What is the gender breakdown at NKU?

5,697 male (37.12%) and 9,650 female (62.88%) students are attending NKU.

What is the international student enrollment at NKU?

446 international students (2.91%) are enrolled at NKU, including 314 undergraduate and 132 graduate students.

How diverse is the student population at NKU?

NKU has a student population that is predominantly White: 11,428 White (74.46%), 1,504 Black (9.80%), and 353 Asian (2.30%) students are enrolled.

How many students at NKU are under 18 or over 65?

1,487 students are under 18 and 60 students are over 65 years old.

How many students at NKU take online courses?

6,624 students are enrolled exclusively online, and 4,682 students take some online courses.

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