The student population at Northwest Missouri State University is 9,152 (5,241 undergraduate and 3,911 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 2,559 (38.81%) over the past decade.
The average student population over the last 11 years is 7,588 where 9,152 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.
Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 6 year-over-year increases and 3 decreases. It peaked at 9,664 students in 2024 and was lowest at 6,338 in 2018. Overall, enrollment rose from 6,593 to 9,152 students, a net gain of 2,559 (38.8%).
The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Northwest Missouri State University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 6,593 | 5,618 | 2,452 | 3,166 | 975 | 513 | 462 |
| 2016-17 | 6,530 -63 | 5,628 10 | 2,417 -35 | 3,211 45 | 902 -73 | 497 -16 | 405 -57 |
| 2017-18 | 6,338 -192 | 5,474 -154 | 2,343 -74 | 3,131 -80 | 864 -38 | 410 -87 | 454 49 |
| 2018-19 | 6,857 519 | 5,654 180 | 2,420 77 | 3,234 103 | 1,203 339 | 483 73 | 720 266 |
| 2019-20 | 7,104 247 | 5,710 56 | 2,401 -19 | 3,309 75 | 1,394 191 | 524 41 | 870 150 |
| 2020-21 | 7,267 163 | 5,482 -228 | 2,251 -150 | 3,231 -78 | 1,785 391 | 597 73 | 1,188 318 |
| 2021-22 | 7,870 603 | 5,306 -176 | 2,127 -124 | 3,179 -52 | 2,564 779 | 1,053 456 | 1,511 323 |
| 2022-23 | 8,505 635 | 5,308 2 | 2,072 -55 | 3,236 57 | 3,197 633 | 1,183 130 | 2,014 503 |
| 2023-24 | 9,664 1,159 | 5,599 291 | 2,179 107 | 3,420 184 | 4,065 868 | 1,308 125 | 2,757 743 |
| 2024-25 | 9,152 -512 | 5,241 -358 | 2,032 -147 | 3,209 -211 | 3,911 -154 | 1,209 -99 | 2,702 -55 |
| Average | 7,588 | 5,502 | 2,269 | 3,233 | 2,086 | 778 | 1,308 |
The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 5,502 where 5,241 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 Northwest Missouri State University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 5,618 | 4,974 | 2,125 | 2,849 | 644 | 327 | 317 |
| 2016-17 | 5,628 | 4,918 | 2,093 | 2,825 | 710 | 324 | 386 |
| 2017-18 | 5,474 | 4,806 | 2,030 | 2,776 | 668 | 313 | 355 |
| 2018-19 | 5,654 | 4,928 | 2,117 | 2,811 | 726 | 303 | 423 |
| 2019-20 | 5,710 | 4,954 | 2,104 | 2,850 | 756 | 297 | 459 |
| 2020-21 | 5,482 | 4,813 | 1,996 | 2,817 | 669 | 255 | 414 |
| 2021-22 | 5,306 | 4,405 | 1,792 | 2,613 | 901 | 335 | 566 |
| 2022-23 | 5,308 | 4,278 | 1,682 | 2,596 | 1,030 | 390 | 640 |
| 2023-24 | 5,599 | 4,186 | 1,645 | 2,541 | 1,413 | 534 | 879 |
| 2024-25 | 5,241 | 3,997 | 1,579 | 2,418 | 1,244 | 453 | 791 |
| Average | 5,502 | 5,502 | 1,916 | 2,710 | 5,502 | 353 | 523 |
The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 2,086 where 3,911 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 Northwest Missouri State University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 975 | 446 | 290 | 156 | 529 | 223 | 306 |
| 2016-17 | 902 | 441 | 283 | 158 | 461 | 214 | 247 |
| 2017-18 | 864 | 365 | 206 | 159 | 499 | 204 | 295 |
| 2018-19 | 1,203 | 452 | 201 | 251 | 751 | 282 | 469 |
| 2019-20 | 1,394 | 462 | 206 | 256 | 932 | 318 | 614 |
| 2020-21 | 1,785 | 456 | 147 | 309 | 1,329 | 450 | 879 |
| 2021-22 | 2,564 | 985 | 512 | 473 | 1,579 | 541 | 1,038 |
| 2022-23 | 3,197 | 1,032 | 465 | 567 | 2,165 | 718 | 1,447 |
| 2023-24 | 4,065 | 1,276 | 561 | 715 | 2,789 | 747 | 2,042 |
| 2024-25 | 3,911 | 851 | 367 | 484 | 3,060 | 842 | 2,218 |
| Average | 2,086 | 2,086 | 324 | 353 | 2,086 | 454 | 956 |
The percentage of white students is 74.61%. The percentage was 72.93% 10 years ago and Northwest Missouri State still has a high percentage of white students. 1.01% of enrolled students is Asian and 4.35% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 4.34% of the student body.
Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students increased from 72.93% to 74.61%. Asian enrollment grew from 0.59% to 1.01%. Black student enrollment decreased from 5.61% to 4.35%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 3.25% to 4.34%.
The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.4384 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This decreased from 0.4632 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has declined.
The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Northwest Missouri 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 | 23 | 39 | 370 | 214 | 4 | 4,808 | 176 |
| 2016-17 | 20 | 46 | 349 | 223 | 5 | 4,892 | 192 |
| 2017-18 | 18 | 53 | 317 | 233 | 10 | 4,910 | 194 |
| 2018-19 | 21 | 53 | 341 | 247 | 8 | 5,399 | 209 |
| 2019-20 | 19 | 54 | 334 | 236 | 12 | 5,654 | 205 |
| 2020-21 | 20 | 60 | 337 | 262 | 10 | 5,940 | 203 |
| 2021-22 | 24 | 67 | 316 | 277 | 6 | 6,077 | 202 |
| 2022-23 | 23 | 70 | 323 | 337 | 9 | 6,382 | 223 |
| 2023-24 | 33 | 84 | 356 | 394 | 5 | 7,016 | 254 |
| 2024-25 | 39 | 92 | 398 | 397 | 10 | 6,828 | 309 |
| Average | 24 | 62 | 344 | 282 | 8 | 5,791 | 217 |
3,288 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 36% of total students. The number of online students has increased 914.81% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Northwest Missouri State University from 2015 to 2025.
| Year | Total Enrollment | Online Completely | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | Not Enrolled in Online Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 6,593 | 324 | 1,078 | 5,191 |
| 2016-17 | 6,530 | 388 | 1,305 | 4,837 |
| 2017-18 | 6,338 | 300 | 1,347 | 4,691 |
| 2018-19 | 6,857 | 936 | 1,516 | 4,405 |
| 2019-20 | 7,104 | 1,230 | 1,529 | 4,345 |
| 2020-21 | 7,267 | 1,856 | 2,184 | 3,227 |
| 2021-22 | 7,870 | 2,297 | 1,631 | 3,942 |
| 2022-23 | 8,505 | 2,742 | 1,471 | 4,292 |
| 2023-24 | 9,664 | 3,089 | 1,491 | 5,084 |
| 2024-25 | 9,152 | 3,288 | 1,472 | 4,392 |
| Average | 7,588 | 1,645 | 1,502 | 4,441 |
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