Enrollment Trends at BU

The student population at Boston University is 37,737 (18,805 undergraduate and 18,932 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 5,579 (17.35%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at BU is 49.83% which is increased by 873 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 4,706 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 73 male students for every 100 female students, up from 71 in 2015.
5,423 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 127.86% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 34,648 where 37,737 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 6 year-over-year increases and 3 decreases. It peaked at 37,737 students in 2025 and was lowest at 32,158 in 2016. Overall, enrollment rose from 32,158 to 37,737 students, a net gain of 5,579 (17.3%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Boston University since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	32,158	17,932	7,120	10,812	14,226	6,181	8,045
2016-17	32,695 537	17,944 12	7,061 -59	10,883 71	14,751 525	6,409 228	8,342 297
2017-18	33,355 660	18,080 136	7,217 156	10,863 -20	15,275 524	6,615 206	8,660 318
2018-19	34,657 1,302	18,515 435	7,444 227	11,071 208	16,142 867	6,862 247	9,280 620
2019-20	33,720 -937	17,983 -532	7,419 -25	10,564 -507	15,737 -405	6,653 -209	9,084 -196
2020-21	32,718 -1,002	16,872 -1,111	7,022 -397	9,850 -714	15,846 109	6,662 9	9,184 100
2021-22	36,104 3,386	18,229 1,357	7,719 697	10,510 660	17,875 2,029	7,600 938	10,275 1,091
2022-23	36,714 610	18,459 230	7,742 23	10,717 207	18,255 380	7,904 304	10,351 76
2023-24	36,624 -90	18,656 197	7,810 68	10,846 129	17,968 -287	7,797 -107	10,171 -180
2024-25	37,737 1,113	18,805 149	7,841 31	10,964 118	18,932 964	8,122 325	10,810 639
Average	34,648	18,148	7,440	10,708	16,501	7,081	9,420

Boston University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 18,148 where 18,805 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 Boston University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	17,932	16,585	6,474	10,111	1,347	646	701
2016-17	17,944	16,628	6,430	10,198	1,316	631	685
2017-18	18,080	16,840	6,602	10,238	1,240	615	625
2018-19	18,515	17,396	6,928	10,468	1,119	516	603
2019-20	17,983	16,978	6,933	10,045	1,005	486	519
2020-21	16,872	16,026	6,647	9,379	846	375	471
2021-22	18,229	17,460	7,331	10,129	769	388	381
2022-23	18,459	17,734	7,381	10,353	725	361	364
2023-24	18,656	17,899	7,462	10,437	757	348	409
2024-25	18,805	18,285	7,623	10,662	520	218	302
Average	18,148	18,148	6,981	10,202	18,148	458	506

Boston University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 16,501 where 18,932 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 Boston University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	14,226	9,414	4,106	5,308	4,812	2,075	2,737
2016-17	14,751	9,712	4,243	5,469	5,039	2,166	2,873
2017-18	15,275	10,146	4,393	5,753	5,129	2,222	2,907
2018-19	16,142	10,891	4,667	6,224	5,251	2,195	3,056
2019-20	15,737	10,576	4,555	6,021	5,161	2,098	3,063
2020-21	15,846	10,246	4,366	5,880	5,600	2,296	3,304
2021-22	17,875	11,587	4,949	6,638	6,288	2,651	3,637
2022-23	18,255	11,517	4,905	6,612	6,738	2,999	3,739
2023-24	17,968	11,205	4,772	6,433	6,763	3,025	3,738
2024-25	18,932	10,974	4,631	6,343	7,958	3,491	4,467
Average	16,501	16,501	4,559	6,068	16,501	2,522	3,352

Boston University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 33.19% and the percentage of black students is 5.11% at Boston University. 15.93% of enrolled students is Asian. Hispanic students comprise 9.48% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 43.76% to 33.19%. Asian enrollment grew from 10.84% to 15.93%. Black student enrollment increased from 4.05% to 5.11%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 8.35% to 9.48%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.8516 which indicates that highly diverse. This increased from 0.7874 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Boston 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
Year	2015-16	29	3,487	1,303	2,686	33	14,072	882
2016-17	32	3,683	1,341	2,812	37	13,757	898
2017-18	29	3,876	1,364	2,963	34	13,478	954
2018-19	22	4,253	1,435	3,087	36	13,486	1,023
2019-20	22	4,412	1,332	3,031	22	12,812	1,078
2020-21	12	4,710	1,378	3,106	19	12,490	1,109
2021-22	15	5,282	1,500	3,253	27	13,279	1,249
2022-23	19	5,418	1,638	3,298	27	12,654	1,260
2023-24	18	5,543	1,798	3,433	22	12,255	1,246
2024-25	18	6,013	1,929	3,579	21	12,524	1,351
Average	22	4,668	1,502	3,125	28	13,081	1,105

Boston University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

5,423 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 14% of total students. The number of online students has increased 127.86% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Boston University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	32,158	2,380	283	29,495
2016-17	32,695	2,658	336	29,701
2017-18	33,355	2,639	387	30,329
2018-19	34,657	2,534	930	31,193
2019-20	33,720	2,309	896	30,515
2020-21	32,718	2,849	1,138	28,731
2021-22	36,104	4,032	1,410	30,662
2022-23	36,714	4,044	1,213	31,457
2023-24	36,624	4,087	1,145	31,392
2024-25	37,737	5,423	1,354	30,960
Average	34,648	3,296	909	30,444

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Enrollment Trends at BU

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

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