The student population at Norfolk State University is 6,053 (5,410 undergraduate and 643 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 946 over the past decade.
The percentage of undergraduate students at NSU is 89.38% which is increased by 888 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 58 and it has been increasing.
The female to male ratio is 2.05 to 1 which means that majority of population is on female students.
693 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 276.63% since 2015.
The average student population over the last 11 years is 5,543 where 6,053 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.
89.38% of total students is undergraduate students and 10.62% students is graduate students. The number of undergraduate students has increased by 888 and the graduate enrollment has increased by 58 over past 10 years.
The female to male ratio is 2.05 to 1 and it means that there are far more female students enrolled in NSU than male students.
The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Norfolk State University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 5,107 | 4,522 | 1,665 | 2,857 | 585 | 157 | 428 |
| 2016-17 | 5,421 314 | 4,739 217 | 1,698 33 | 3,041 184 | 682 97 | 197 40 | 485 57 |
| 2017-18 | 5,303 -118 | 4,687 -52 | 1,642 -56 | 3,045 4 | 616 -66 | 188 -9 | 428 -57 |
| 2018-19 | 5,204 -99 | 4,660 -27 | 1,618 -24 | 3,042 -3 | 544 -72 | 179 -9 | 365 -63 |
| 2019-20 | 5,601 397 | 5,112 452 | 1,708 90 | 3,404 362 | 489 -55 | 192 13 | 297 -68 |
| 2020-21 | 5,457 -144 | 4,992 -120 | 1,604 -104 | 3,388 -16 | 465 -24 | 163 -29 | 302 5 |
| 2021-22 | 5,458 1 | 5,016 24 | 1,622 18 | 3,394 6 | 442 -23 | 162 -1 | 280 -22 |
| 2022-23 | 5,783 325 | 5,337 321 | 1,740 118 | 3,597 203 | 446 4 | 180 18 | 266 -14 |
| 2023-24 | 6,045 262 | 5,510 173 | 1,823 83 | 3,687 90 | 535 89 | 211 31 | 324 58 |
| 2024-25 | 6,053 8 | 5,410 -100 | 1,759 -64 | 3,651 -36 | 643 108 | 223 12 | 420 96 |
| Average | 5,543 | 4,999 | 1,688 | 3,311 | 545 | 185 | 360 |
The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 4,999 where 5,410 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 Norfolk State University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 4,522 | 3,739 | 1,451 | 2,288 | 783 | 214 | 569 |
| 2016-17 | 4,739 | 4,002 | 1,494 | 2,508 | 737 | 204 | 533 |
| 2017-18 | 4,687 | 4,011 | 1,478 | 2,533 | 676 | 164 | 512 |
| 2018-19 | 4,660 | 4,133 | 1,462 | 2,671 | 527 | 156 | 371 |
| 2019-20 | 5,112 | 4,583 | 1,572 | 3,011 | 529 | 136 | 393 |
| 2020-21 | 4,992 | 4,529 | 1,478 | 3,051 | 463 | 126 | 337 |
| 2021-22 | 5,016 | 4,520 | 1,478 | 3,042 | 496 | 144 | 352 |
| 2022-23 | 5,337 | 4,618 | 1,524 | 3,094 | 719 | 216 | 503 |
| 2023-24 | 5,510 | 4,899 | 1,645 | 3,254 | 611 | 178 | 433 |
| 2024-25 | 5,410 | 4,970 | 1,636 | 3,334 | 440 | 123 | 317 |
| Average | 4,999 | 4,999 | 1,522 | 2,879 | 4,999 | 166 | 432 |
The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 545 where 643 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 Norfolk State University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 585 | 385 | 96 | 289 | 200 | 61 | 139 |
| 2016-17 | 682 | 443 | 114 | 329 | 239 | 83 | 156 |
| 2017-18 | 616 | 431 | 127 | 304 | 185 | 61 | 124 |
| 2018-19 | 544 | 374 | 109 | 265 | 170 | 70 | 100 |
| 2019-20 | 489 | 353 | 135 | 218 | 136 | 57 | 79 |
| 2020-21 | 465 | 317 | 97 | 220 | 148 | 66 | 82 |
| 2021-22 | 442 | 307 | 102 | 205 | 135 | 60 | 75 |
| 2022-23 | 446 | 276 | 93 | 183 | 170 | 87 | 83 |
| 2023-24 | 535 | 353 | 129 | 224 | 182 | 82 | 100 |
| 2024-25 | 643 | 432 | 128 | 304 | 211 | 95 | 116 |
| Average | 545 | 545 | 113 | 254 | 545 | 72 | 105 |
The percentage of white students is 2.15% and the percentage of black students is 79.13% at Norfolk State University. 0.35% of enrolled students is Asian. Hispanic students comprise 4.64% of the student body.
Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 5.13% to 2.15%. Asian enrollment declined from 0.70% to 0.35%. Black student enrollment decreased from 82.98% to 79.13%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 2.72% to 4.64%.
The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.3682 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This increased from 0.3063 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.
The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Norfolk State 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 | 10 | 36 | 4,238 | 139 | 7 | 262 | 207 |
| 2016-17 | 10 | 39 | 4,540 | 175 | 5 | 260 | 215 |
| 2017-18 | 10 | 39 | 4,446 | 182 | 6 | 235 | 235 |
| 2018-19 | 9 | 42 | 4,372 | 185 | 3 | 197 | 262 |
| 2019-20 | 6 | 35 | 4,678 | 207 | 3 | 178 | 322 |
| 2020-21 | 5 | 27 | 4,517 | 240 | 3 | 164 | 333 |
| 2021-22 | 6 | 26 | 4,544 | 256 | 4 | 155 | 299 |
| 2022-23 | 13 | 20 | 4,841 | 268 | 4 | 145 | 328 |
| 2023-24 | 8 | 18 | 5,011 | 302 | 0 | 145 | 350 |
| 2024-25 | 11 | 21 | 4,790 | 281 | 2 | 130 | 327 |
| Average | 9 | 30 | 4,598 | 224 | 4 | 187 | 288 |
693 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 11% of total students. The number of online students has increased 276.63% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Norfolk State University from 2015 to 2025.
| Year | Total Enrollment | Online Completely | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | Not Enrolled in Online Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 5,107 | 184 | 2,147 | 2,776 |
| 2016-17 | 5,421 | 243 | 2,157 | 3,021 |
| 2017-18 | 5,303 | 280 | 2,411 | 2,612 |
| 2018-19 | 5,204 | 242 | 2,991 | 1,971 |
| 2019-20 | 5,601 | 310 | 3,360 | 1,931 |
| 2020-21 | 5,457 | 338 | 4,399 | 720 |
| 2021-22 | 5,458 | 615 | 4,707 | 136 |
| 2022-23 | 5,783 | 682 | 4,921 | 180 |
| 2023-24 | 6,045 | 785 | 4,958 | 302 |
| 2024-25 | 6,053 | 693 | 4,753 | 607 |
| Average | 5,543 | 437 | 3,680 | 1,426 |
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