The student population at Lees-McRae College is 910 (873 undergraduate and 37 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 123 (11.91%) over the past decade.
The average student population over the last 11 years is 907 where 910 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 1,033 students in 2016 and was lowest at 838 in 2021. Overall, enrollment dropped from 1,033 to 910 students, a net loss of 123 (11.9%).
The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Lees-McRae College since 2015.
| Year | Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 1,033 | 1,033 | 355 | 678 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016-17 | 991 -42 | 991 -42 | 337 -18 | 654 -24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017-18 | 921 -70 | 921 -70 | 300 -37 | 621 -33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018-19 | 966 45 | 966 45 | 332 32 | 634 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019-20 | 848 -118 | 848 -118 | 272 -60 | 576 -58 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020-21 | 838 -10 | 836 -12 | 279 7 | 557 -19 | 2 2 | 2 2 | 0 |
| 2021-22 | 873 35 | 872 36 | 303 24 | 569 12 | 1 -1 | 0 -2 | 1 1 |
| 2022-23 | 855 -18 | 855 -17 | 299 -4 | 556 -13 | 0 -1 | 0 | 0 -1 |
| 2023-24 | 839 -16 | 818 -37 | 272 -27 | 546 -10 | 21 21 | 7 7 | 14 14 |
| 2024-25 | 910 71 | 873 55 | 291 19 | 582 36 | 37 16 | 6 -1 | 31 17 |
| Average | 907 | 901 | 304 | 597 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 901 where 873 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 Lees-McRae College since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 1,033 | 1,028 | 352 | 676 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 2016-17 | 991 | 978 | 332 | 646 | 13 | 5 | 8 |
| 2017-18 | 921 | 891 | 294 | 597 | 30 | 6 | 24 |
| 2018-19 | 966 | 915 | 325 | 590 | 51 | 7 | 44 |
| 2019-20 | 848 | 795 | 261 | 534 | 53 | 11 | 42 |
| 2020-21 | 836 | 788 | 264 | 524 | 48 | 15 | 33 |
| 2021-22 | 872 | 841 | 294 | 547 | 31 | 9 | 22 |
| 2022-23 | 855 | 821 | 294 | 527 | 34 | 5 | 29 |
| 2023-24 | 818 | 795 | 271 | 524 | 23 | 1 | 22 |
| 2024-25 | 873 | 855 | 289 | 566 | 18 | 2 | 16 |
| Average | 901 | 901 | 298 | 573 | 901 | 6 | 24 |
The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 6 where 37 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 Lees-McRae College since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016-17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017-18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018-19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019-20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020-21 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021-22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2022-23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023-24 | 21 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2024-25 | 37 | 35 | 5 | 30 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Average | 6 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
The percentage of white students is 56.81%. The percentage was 66.51% 10 years ago and Lees-McRae still has a high percentage of white students. 1.43% of enrolled students is Asian and 6.81% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 4.51% of the student body.
Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 66.51% to 56.81%. Asian enrollment grew from 1.16% to 1.43%. Black student enrollment decreased from 7.07% to 6.81%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 3.58% to 4.51%.
The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.6701 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.5511 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.
The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Lees-McRae College 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 | 4 | 12 | 73 | 37 | 1 | 687 | 13 |
| 2016-17 | 7 | 11 | 64 | 42 | 2 | 710 | 13 |
| 2017-18 | 7 | 4 | 56 | 59 | 1 | 663 | 13 |
| 2018-19 | 10 | 6 | 81 | 67 | 1 | 695 | 6 |
| 2019-20 | 5 | 3 | 60 | 56 | 0 | 599 | 17 |
| 2020-21 | 4 | 6 | 67 | 46 | 0 | 611 | 18 |
| 2021-22 | 7 | 8 | 58 | 57 | 0 | 646 | 19 |
| 2022-23 | 5 | 11 | 59 | 60 | 0 | 634 | 12 |
| 2023-24 | 7 | 14 | 72 | 44 | 2 | 622 | 12 |
| 2024-25 | 8 | 13 | 62 | 41 | 2 | 517 | 10 |
| Average | 6 | 9 | 65 | 51 | 1 | 638 | 13 |
190 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 21% of total students. The number of online students has decreased -29.10% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Lees-McRae College from 2015 to 2025.
| Year | Total Enrollment | Online Completely | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | Not Enrolled in Online Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 1,033 | 268 | 87 | 678 |
| 2016-17 | 991 | 290 | 41 | 660 |
| 2017-18 | 921 | 278 | 0 | 643 |
| 2018-19 | 966 | 257 | 0 | 709 |
| 2019-20 | 848 | 225 | 0 | 623 |
| 2020-21 | 838 | 184 | 26 | 628 |
| 2021-22 | 873 | 176 | 22 | 675 |
| 2022-23 | 855 | 159 | 12 | 684 |
| 2023-24 | 839 | 167 | 18 | 654 |
| 2024-25 | 910 | 190 | 19 | 701 |
| Average | 907 | 219 | 23 | 666 |
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