The student population at Howard University is 14,890 (11,519 undergraduate and 3,371 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 4,888 over the past decade.
The percentage of undergraduate students at HU is 77.36% which is increased by 4,636 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 252 and it has been increasing.
The female to male ratio is 2.37 to 1 which means that majority of population is on female students.
1,482 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 1,729.63% since 2015.
The average student population over the last 11 years is 11,101 where 14,890 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.
77.36% of total students is undergraduate students and 22.64% students is graduate students. The number of undergraduate students has increased by 4,636 and the graduate enrollment has increased by 252 over past 10 years.
The female to male ratio is 2.37 to 1 and it means that there are far more female students enrolled in HU than male students.
The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Howard University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 10,002 | 6,883 | 2,242 | 4,641 | 3,119 | 1,230 | 1,889 |
| 2016-17 | 8,966 -1,036 | 5,899 -984 | 1,955 -287 | 3,944 -697 | 3,067 -52 | 1,191 -39 | 1,876 -13 |
| 2017-18 | 9,392 426 | 6,354 455 | 1,985 30 | 4,369 425 | 3,038 -29 | 1,145 -46 | 1,893 17 |
| 2018-19 | 9,139 -253 | 6,243 -111 | 1,931 -54 | 4,312 -57 | 2,896 -142 | 1,064 -81 | 1,832 -61 |
| 2019-20 | 9,399 260 | 6,526 283 | 1,900 -31 | 4,626 314 | 2,873 -23 | 1,022 -42 | 1,851 19 |
| 2020-21 | 10,859 1,460 | 7,857 1,331 | 2,215 315 | 5,642 1,016 | 3,002 129 | 1,023 1 | 1,979 128 |
| 2021-22 | 12,065 1,206 | 8,964 1,107 | 2,507 292 | 6,457 815 | 3,101 99 | 1,016 -7 | 2,085 106 |
| 2022-23 | 12,886 821 | 9,809 845 | 2,758 251 | 7,051 594 | 3,077 -24 | 1,036 20 | 2,041 -44 |
| 2023-24 | 13,416 530 | 10,190 381 | 2,860 102 | 7,330 279 | 3,226 149 | 1,113 77 | 2,113 72 |
| 2024-25 | 14,890 1,474 | 11,519 1,329 | 3,262 402 | 8,257 927 | 3,371 145 | 1,158 45 | 2,213 100 |
| Average | 11,101 | 8,024 | 2,362 | 5,663 | 3,077 | 1,100 | 1,977 |
The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 8,024 where 11,519 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 Howard University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 6,883 | 6,412 | 2,071 | 4,341 | 471 | 171 | 300 |
| 2016-17 | 5,899 | 5,575 | 1,804 | 3,771 | 324 | 151 | 173 |
| 2017-18 | 6,354 | 6,090 | 1,874 | 4,216 | 264 | 111 | 153 |
| 2018-19 | 6,243 | 5,991 | 1,826 | 4,165 | 252 | 105 | 147 |
| 2019-20 | 6,526 | 6,269 | 1,797 | 4,472 | 257 | 103 | 154 |
| 2020-21 | 7,857 | 7,497 | 2,085 | 5,412 | 360 | 130 | 230 |
| 2021-22 | 8,964 | 8,419 | 2,299 | 6,120 | 545 | 208 | 337 |
| 2022-23 | 9,809 | 9,022 | 2,449 | 6,573 | 787 | 309 | 478 |
| 2023-24 | 10,190 | 9,361 | 2,512 | 6,849 | 829 | 348 | 481 |
| 2024-25 | 11,519 | 9,885 | 2,606 | 7,279 | 1,634 | 656 | 978 |
| Average | 8,024 | 8,024 | 2,132 | 5,320 | 8,024 | 229 | 343 |
The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 3,077 where 3,371 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 Howard University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 3,119 | 2,614 | 1,040 | 1,574 | 505 | 190 | 315 |
| 2016-17 | 3,067 | 2,584 | 987 | 1,597 | 483 | 204 | 279 |
| 2017-18 | 3,038 | 2,553 | 960 | 1,593 | 485 | 185 | 300 |
| 2018-19 | 2,896 | 2,509 | 910 | 1,599 | 387 | 154 | 233 |
| 2019-20 | 2,873 | 2,492 | 874 | 1,618 | 381 | 148 | 233 |
| 2020-21 | 3,002 | 2,553 | 874 | 1,679 | 449 | 149 | 300 |
| 2021-22 | 3,101 | 2,637 | 863 | 1,774 | 464 | 153 | 311 |
| 2022-23 | 3,077 | 2,528 | 885 | 1,643 | 549 | 151 | 398 |
| 2023-24 | 3,226 | 2,699 | 962 | 1,737 | 527 | 151 | 376 |
| 2024-25 | 3,371 | 2,827 | 1,005 | 1,822 | 544 | 153 | 391 |
| Average | 3,077 | 3,077 | 936 | 1,664 | 3,077 | 164 | 314 |
The percentage of white students is 0.81% and the percentage of black students is 67.49% at Howard University. 1.65% of enrolled students is Asian. Hispanic students comprise 6.53% of the student body.
Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 3.21% to 0.81%. Asian enrollment declined from 3.19% to 1.65%. Black student enrollment decreased from 85.43% to 67.49%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 0.91% to 6.53%.
The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.5380 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This increased from 0.2680 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.
The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Howard 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 | 59 | 319 | 8,545 | 91 | 18 | 321 | 0 |
| 2016-17 | 18 | 294 | 7,540 | 118 | 18 | 275 | 0 |
| 2017-18 | 14 | 273 | 7,948 | 120 | 23 | 273 | 0 |
| 2018-19 | 18 | 300 | 7,676 | 133 | 38 | 306 | 0 |
| 2019-20 | 110 | 261 | 6,704 | 573 | 20 | 212 | 317 |
| 2020-21 | 132 | 417 | 7,373 | 718 | 28 | 214 | 407 |
| 2021-22 | 139 | 522 | 8,133 | 779 | 22 | 162 | 506 |
| 2022-23 | 117 | 443 | 8,581 | 817 | 18 | 141 | 581 |
| 2023-24 | 53 | 410 | 9,228 | 866 | 14 | 124 | 613 |
| 2024-25 | 22 | 246 | 10,050 | 972 | 6 | 120 | 644 |
| Average | 68 | 349 | 8,178 | 519 | 21 | 215 | 307 |
1,482 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 10% of total students. The number of online students has increased 1,729.63% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Howard University from 2015 to 2025.
| Year | Total Enrollment | Online Completely | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | Not Enrolled in Online Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 10,002 | 81 | 811 | 9,110 |
| 2016-17 | 8,966 | 77 | 725 | 8,164 |
| 2017-18 | 9,392 | 21 | 677 | 8,694 |
| 2018-19 | 9,139 | 29 | 1,030 | 8,080 |
| 2019-20 | 9,399 | 22 | 1,047 | 8,330 |
| 2020-21 | 10,859 | 109 | 3,456 | 7,294 |
| 2021-22 | 12,065 | 185 | 9,719 | 2,161 |
| 2022-23 | 12,886 | 339 | 9,021 | 3,526 |
| 2023-24 | 13,416 | 1,136 | 8,128 | 4,152 |
| 2024-25 | 14,890 | 1,482 | 7,410 | 5,998 |
| Average | 11,101 | 348 | 4,202 | 6,551 |
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