The student population at Bluffton University is 646 (583 undergraduate and 63 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 365 (36.10%) over the past decade.
The average student population over the last 11 years is 793 where 646 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.
Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 1 year-over-year increase and 8 decreases. It peaked at 1,011 students in 2016 and was lowest at 646 in 2025. Overall, enrollment dropped from 1,011 to 646 students, a net loss of 365 (36.1%).
The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Bluffton University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 1,011 | 910 | 435 | 475 | 101 | 40 | 61 |
| 2016-17 | 952 -59 | 865 -45 | 434 -1 | 431 -44 | 87 -14 | 23 -17 | 64 3 |
| 2017-18 | 815 -137 | 739 -126 | 374 -60 | 365 -66 | 76 -11 | 25 2 | 51 -13 |
| 2018-19 | 770 -45 | 700 -39 | 384 10 | 316 -49 | 70 -6 | 26 1 | 44 -7 |
| 2019-20 | 768 -2 | 710 10 | 403 19 | 307 -9 | 58 -12 | 19 -7 | 39 -5 |
| 2020-21 | 750 -18 | 691 -19 | 375 -28 | 316 9 | 59 1 | 24 5 | 35 -4 |
| 2021-22 | 791 41 | 728 37 | 400 25 | 328 12 | 63 4 | 21 -3 | 42 7 |
| 2022-23 | 745 -46 | 664 -64 | 355 -45 | 309 -19 | 81 18 | 13 -8 | 68 26 |
| 2023-24 | 678 -67 | 602 -62 | 345 -10 | 257 -52 | 76 -5 | 27 14 | 49 -19 |
| 2024-25 | 646 -32 | 583 -19 | 337 -8 | 246 -11 | 63 -13 | 30 3 | 33 -16 |
| Average | 793 | 719 | 384 | 335 | 73 | 25 | 49 |
The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 719 where 583 students are attending the Undergraduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Bluffton University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 910 | 746 | 379 | 367 | 164 | 56 | 108 |
| 2016-17 | 865 | 728 | 377 | 351 | 137 | 57 | 80 |
| 2017-18 | 739 | 660 | 335 | 325 | 79 | 39 | 40 |
| 2018-19 | 700 | 605 | 345 | 260 | 95 | 39 | 56 |
| 2019-20 | 710 | 626 | 361 | 265 | 84 | 42 | 42 |
| 2020-21 | 691 | 647 | 350 | 297 | 44 | 25 | 19 |
| 2021-22 | 728 | 700 | 388 | 312 | 28 | 12 | 16 |
| 2022-23 | 664 | 639 | 341 | 298 | 25 | 14 | 11 |
| 2023-24 | 602 | 584 | 335 | 249 | 18 | 10 | 8 |
| 2024-25 | 583 | 575 | 334 | 241 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| Average | 719 | 719 | 355 | 297 | 719 | 30 | 39 |
The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 73 where 63 students are attending the Graduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Bluffton University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 101 | 92 | 38 | 54 | 9 | 2 | 7 |
| 2016-17 | 87 | 76 | 23 | 53 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| 2017-18 | 76 | 65 | 24 | 41 | 11 | 1 | 10 |
| 2018-19 | 70 | 62 | 25 | 37 | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| 2019-20 | 58 | 52 | 16 | 36 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| 2020-21 | 59 | 56 | 24 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2021-22 | 63 | 54 | 21 | 33 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 2022-23 | 81 | 78 | 13 | 65 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2023-24 | 76 | 63 | 25 | 38 | 13 | 2 | 11 |
| 2024-25 | 63 | 49 | 27 | 22 | 14 | 3 | 11 |
| Average | 73 | 73 | 24 | 41 | 73 | 1 | 8 |
The percentage of white students is 62.85%. The percentage was 84.77% 10 years ago and Bluffton still has a high percentage of white students. 1.08% of enrolled students is Asian and 17.80% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 3.41% of the student body.
Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 84.77% to 62.85%. Asian enrollment grew from 0.49% to 1.08%. Black student enrollment increased from 5.54% to 17.80%. Hispanic student representation contracted from 3.66% to 3.41%.
The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.5713 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.2765 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.
The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Bluffton University over the past 11 years (2015-2025).
| Year | American Indian or Native American | Asian | Black | Hispanic | Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | White | Two or More Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 0 | 5 | 56 | 37 | 0 | 857 | 23 |
| 2016-17 | 0 | 8 | 54 | 36 | 0 | 797 | 32 |
| 2017-18 | 2 | 5 | 71 | 33 | 0 | 645 | 30 |
| 2018-19 | 2 | 8 | 71 | 25 | 0 | 583 | 30 |
| 2019-20 | 4 | 5 | 78 | 25 | 0 | 575 | 27 |
| 2020-21 | 4 | 3 | 87 | 26 | 0 | 550 | 32 |
| 2021-22 | 2 | 7 | 108 | 22 | 0 | 583 | 19 |
| 2022-23 | 1 | 3 | 89 | 21 | 0 | 559 | 17 |
| 2023-24 | 1 | 5 | 118 | 21 | 0 | 459 | 19 |
| 2024-25 | 2 | 7 | 115 | 22 | 1 | 406 | 18 |
| Average | 2 | 6 | 85 | 27 | 0 | 601 | 25 |
52 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 8% of total students. The number of online students has increased 300.00% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Bluffton University from 2015 to 2025.
| Year | Total Enrollment | Online Completely | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | Not Enrolled in Online Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 1,011 | 13 | 22 | 976 |
| 2016-17 | 952 | 14 | 60 | 878 |
| 2017-18 | 815 | 24 | 36 | 755 |
| 2018-19 | 770 | 30 | 44 | 696 |
| 2019-20 | 768 | 21 | 40 | 707 |
| 2020-21 | 750 | 52 | 102 | 596 |
| 2021-22 | 791 | 55 | 36 | 700 |
| 2022-23 | 745 | 76 | 39 | 630 |
| 2023-24 | 678 | 65 | 10 | 603 |
| 2024-25 | 646 | 52 | 21 | 573 |
| Average | 793 | 40 | 41 | 711 |
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