Enrollment Trends at ECU

The student population at East Carolina University is 26,940 (21,445 undergraduate and 5,495 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 1,349 (4.77%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at ECU is 79.60% which is decreased by 1,594 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 245 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 65 male students for every 100 female students, down from 68 in 2015.
8,356 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 32.66% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 28,145 where 26,940 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 4 year-over-year increases and 5 decreases. It peaked at 29,131 students in 2018 and was lowest at 26,785 in 2024. Overall, enrollment dropped from 28,289 to 26,940 students, a net loss of 1,349 (4.8%).

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	28,289	23,039	9,599	13,440	5,250	1,894	3,356
2016-17	28,962 673	22,969 -70	9,781 182	13,188 -252	5,993 743	2,063 169	3,930 574
2017-18	29,131 169	23,265 296	9,957 176	13,308 120	5,866 -127	2,013 -50	3,853 -77
2018-19	28,718 -413	23,071 -194	9,911 -46	13,160 -148	5,647 -219	1,925 -88	3,722 -131
2019-20	28,651 -67	23,081 10	9,897 -14	13,184 24	5,570 -77	1,844 -81	3,726 4
2020-21	28,798 147	23,056 -25	9,612 -285	13,444 260	5,742 172	1,894 50	3,848 122
2021-22	28,021 -777	22,463 -593	9,260 -352	13,203 -241	5,558 -184	1,811 -83	3,747 -101
2022-23	27,151 -870	21,688 -775	9,038 -222	12,650 -553	5,463 -95	1,715 -96	3,748 1
2023-24	26,785 -366	21,328 -360	8,941 -97	12,387 -263	5,457 -6	1,660 -55	3,797 49
2024-25	26,940 155	21,445 117	8,978 37	12,467 80	5,495 38	1,653 -7	3,842 45
Average	28,145	22,541	9,497	13,043	5,604	1,847	3,757

East Carolina University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 22,541 where 21,445 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 East Carolina University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	23,039	19,336	8,132	11,204	3,703	1,467	2,236
2016-17	22,969	19,754	8,412	11,342	3,215	1,369	1,846
2017-18	23,265	19,999	8,657	11,342	3,266	1,300	1,966
2018-19	23,071	19,562	8,497	11,065	3,509	1,414	2,095
2019-20	23,081	19,204	8,357	10,847	3,877	1,540	2,337
2020-21	23,056	18,886	7,999	10,887	4,170	1,613	2,557
2021-22	22,463	18,245	7,684	10,561	4,218	1,576	2,642
2022-23	21,688	17,617	7,527	10,090	4,071	1,511	2,560
2023-24	21,328	17,255	7,450	9,805	4,073	1,491	2,582
2024-25	21,445	16,981	7,390	9,591	4,464	1,588	2,876
Average	22,541	22,541	8,011	10,673	22,541	1,487	2,370

East Carolina University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 5,604 where 5,495 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 East Carolina University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	5,250	2,505	917	1,588	2,745	977	1,768
2016-17	5,993	2,612	969	1,643	3,381	1,094	2,287
2017-18	5,866	2,653	958	1,695	3,213	1,055	2,158
2018-19	5,647	2,525	870	1,655	3,122	1,055	2,067
2019-20	5,570	2,548	850	1,698	3,022	994	2,028
2020-21	5,742	2,585	885	1,700	3,157	1,009	2,148
2021-22	5,558	2,577	871	1,706	2,981	940	2,041
2022-23	5,463	2,776	962	1,814	2,687	753	1,934
2023-24	5,457	2,910	970	1,940	2,547	690	1,857
2024-25	5,495	2,909	948	1,961	2,586	705	1,881
Average	5,604	5,604	920	1,740	5,604	927	2,017

East Carolina University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 61.17%. The percentage was 68.59% 10 years ago and ECU still has a high percentage of white students. 2.81% of enrolled students is Asian and 16.98% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 9.14% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 68.59% to 61.17%. Asian enrollment declined from 2.85% to 2.81%. Black student enrollment increased from 15.90% to 16.98%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 5.65% to 9.14%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.5862 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.4994 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at East Carolina 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	191	806	4,497	1,599	35	19,404	782
2016-17	198	838	4,488	1,696	26	19,732	865
2017-18	205	805	4,639	1,756	33	19,586	967
2018-19	199	766	4,559	1,806	39	19,130	1,062
2019-20	183	785	4,561	1,937	40	18,933	971
2020-21	188	801	4,710	2,144	36	18,708	981
2021-22	155	797	4,684	2,238	32	17,892	956
2022-23	143	773	4,445	2,265	29	17,239	930
2023-24	136	744	4,452	2,356	23	16,811	1,000
2024-25	134	757	4,575	2,463	23	16,479	1,080
Average	173	787	4,561	2,026	32	18,391	959

East Carolina University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

8,356 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 31% of total students. The number of online students has increased 32.66% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at East Carolina University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	28,289	6,299	5,712	16,278
2016-17	28,962	6,526	5,607	16,829
2017-18	29,131	6,626	5,722	16,783
2018-19	28,718	6,812	6,148	15,758
2019-20	28,651	7,109	6,781	14,761
2020-21	28,798	10,537	16,196	2,065
2021-22	28,021	8,218	12,522	7,281
2022-23	27,151	7,807	11,621	7,723
2023-24	26,785	7,929	11,428	7,428
2024-25	26,940	8,356	11,786	6,798
Average	28,145	7,622	9,352	11,170

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Enrollment Trends at ECU

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

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