The student population at Buena Vista University is 1,890 (1,436 undergraduate and 454 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 432 (18.60%) over the past decade.
The average student population over the last 11 years is 1,972 where 1,890 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.
Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 3 year-over-year increases and 6 decreases. It peaked at 2,322 students in 2016 and was lowest at 1,815 in 2020. Overall, enrollment dropped from 2,322 to 1,890 students, a net loss of 432 (18.6%).
The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Buena Vista University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 2,322 | 1,976 | 694 | 1,282 | 346 | 42 | 304 |
| 2016-17 | 2,114 -208 | 1,921 -55 | 652 -42 | 1,269 -13 | 193 -153 | 22 -20 | 171 -133 |
| 2017-18 | 1,982 -132 | 1,804 -117 | 647 -5 | 1,157 -112 | 178 -15 | 19 -3 | 159 -12 |
| 2018-19 | 1,846 -136 | 1,619 -185 | 564 -83 | 1,055 -102 | 227 49 | 29 10 | 198 39 |
| 2019-20 | 1,815 -31 | 1,478 -141 | 529 -35 | 949 -106 | 337 110 | 53 24 | 284 86 |
| 2020-21 | 1,863 48 | 1,456 -22 | 526 -3 | 930 -19 | 407 70 | 70 17 | 337 53 |
| 2021-22 | 1,959 96 | 1,506 50 | 550 24 | 956 26 | 453 46 | 74 4 | 379 42 |
| 2022-23 | 1,973 14 | 1,474 -32 | 512 -38 | 962 6 | 499 46 | 88 14 | 411 32 |
| 2023-24 | 1,951 -22 | 1,442 -32 | 496 -16 | 946 -16 | 509 10 | 84 -4 | 425 14 |
| 2024-25 | 1,890 -61 | 1,436 -6 | 519 23 | 917 -29 | 454 -55 | 90 6 | 364 -61 |
| Average | 1,972 | 1,611 | 569 | 1,042 | 360 | 57 | 303 |
The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 1,611 where 1,436 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 Buena Vista University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 1,976 | 1,714 | 627 | 1,087 | 262 | 67 | 195 |
| 2016-17 | 1,921 | 1,594 | 564 | 1,030 | 327 | 88 | 239 |
| 2017-18 | 1,804 | 1,522 | 553 | 969 | 282 | 94 | 188 |
| 2018-19 | 1,619 | 1,394 | 499 | 895 | 225 | 65 | 160 |
| 2019-20 | 1,478 | 1,257 | 472 | 785 | 221 | 57 | 164 |
| 2020-21 | 1,456 | 1,230 | 470 | 760 | 226 | 56 | 170 |
| 2021-22 | 1,506 | 1,289 | 497 | 792 | 217 | 53 | 164 |
| 2022-23 | 1,474 | 1,295 | 473 | 822 | 179 | 39 | 140 |
| 2023-24 | 1,442 | 1,237 | 456 | 781 | 205 | 40 | 165 |
| 2024-25 | 1,436 | 1,208 | 458 | 750 | 228 | 61 | 167 |
| Average | 1,611 | 1,611 | 507 | 867 | 1,611 | 62 | 175 |
The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 360 where 454 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 Buena Vista University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 346 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 346 | 42 | 304 |
| 2016-17 | 193 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 182 | 20 | 162 |
| 2017-18 | 178 | 33 | 2 | 31 | 145 | 17 | 128 |
| 2018-19 | 227 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 216 | 29 | 187 |
| 2019-20 | 337 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 336 | 52 | 284 |
| 2020-21 | 407 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 403 | 69 | 334 |
| 2021-22 | 453 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 447 | 73 | 374 |
| 2022-23 | 499 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 490 | 88 | 402 |
| 2023-24 | 509 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 503 | 84 | 419 |
| 2024-25 | 454 | 34 | 6 | 28 | 420 | 84 | 336 |
| Average | 360 | 360 | 1 | 10 | 360 | 56 | 293 |
The percentage of white students is 80.32%. The percentage was 80.06% 10 years ago and Buena Vista still has a high percentage of white students. 1.59% of enrolled students is Asian and 2.43% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 10.21% of the student body.
Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students increased from 80.06% to 80.32%. Asian enrollment grew from 1.21% to 1.59%. Black student enrollment increased from 1.51% to 2.43%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 3.79% to 10.21%.
The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.3433 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This decreased from 0.3571 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has declined.
The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Buena Vista 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 | 15 | 28 | 35 | 88 | 3 | 1,859 | 25 |
| 2016-17 | 8 | 24 | 48 | 73 | 3 | 1,710 | 32 |
| 2017-18 | 9 | 19 | 58 | 84 | 2 | 1,537 | 39 |
| 2018-19 | 11 | 13 | 63 | 91 | 1 | 1,368 | 26 |
| 2019-20 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 115 | 0 | 1,322 | 31 |
| 2020-21 | 10 | 16 | 47 | 151 | 1 | 1,418 | 87 |
| 2021-22 | 15 | 15 | 47 | 183 | 3 | 1,565 | 51 |
| 2022-23 | 11 | 16 | 54 | 189 | 4 | 1,587 | 42 |
| 2023-24 | 10 | 13 | 48 | 192 | 4 | 1,575 | 38 |
| 2024-25 | 6 | 30 | 46 | 193 | 1 | 1,518 | 34 |
| Average | 10 | 19 | 49 | 136 | 2 | 1,546 | 41 |
1,080 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 57% of total students. The number of online students has increased 44.19% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Buena Vista University from 2015 to 2025.
| Year | Total Enrollment | Online Completely | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | Not Enrolled in Online Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 2,322 | 749 | 263 | 1,310 |
| 2016-17 | 2,114 | 958 | 179 | 977 |
| 2017-18 | 1,982 | 876 | 182 | 924 |
| 2018-19 | 1,846 | 902 | 85 | 859 |
| 2019-20 | 1,815 | 893 | 104 | 818 |
| 2020-21 | 1,863 | 1,003 | 148 | 712 |
| 2021-22 | 1,959 | 1,025 | 133 | 801 |
| 2022-23 | 1,973 | 978 | 191 | 804 |
| 2023-24 | 1,951 | 1,151 | 98 | 702 |
| 2024-25 | 1,890 | 1,080 | 74 | 736 |
| Average | 1,972 | 962 | 146 | 864 |
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