Enrollment Trends at PLNU

The student population at Point Loma Nazarene University is 4,757 (3,246 undergraduate and 1,511 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 1,094 (29.87%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at PLNU is 68.24% which is increased by 479 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 615 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 49 male students for every 100 female students, down from 51 in 2015.
1,243 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 1,281.11% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 4,397 where 4,757 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 4,757 students in 2025 and was lowest at 3,663 in 2016. Overall, enrollment rose from 3,663 to 4,757 students, a net gain of 1,094 (29.9%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Point Loma Nazarene University since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	3,663	2,767	990	1,777	896	250	646
2016-17	4,098 435	2,995 228	1,059 69	1,936 159	1,103 207	313 63	790 144
2017-18	4,417 319	3,100 105	1,078 19	2,022 86	1,317 214	391 78	926 136
2018-19	4,592 175	3,135 35	1,107 29	2,028 6	1,457 140	413 22	1,044 118
2019-20	4,567 -25	3,203 68	1,117 10	2,086 58	1,364 -93	373 -40	991 -53
2020-21	4,616 49	3,216 13	1,098 -19	2,118 32	1,400 36	357 -16	1,043 52
2021-22	4,445 -171	3,174 -42	1,090 -8	2,084 -34	1,271 -129	371 14	900 -143
2022-23	4,319 -126	3,154 -20	1,098 8	2,056 -28	1,165 -106	376 5	789 -111
2023-24	4,494 175	3,158 4	1,062 -36	2,096 40	1,336 171	409 33	927 138
2024-25	4,757 263	3,246 88	1,134 72	2,112 16	1,511 175	428 19	1,083 156
Average	4,397	3,115	1,083	2,032	1,282	368	914

Point Loma Nazarene University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 3,115 where 3,246 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 Point Loma Nazarene University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	2,767	2,587	928	1,659	180	62	118
2016-17	2,995	2,534	919	1,615	461	140	321
2017-18	3,100	2,571	941	1,630	529	137	392
2018-19	3,135	2,595	943	1,652	540	164	376
2019-20	3,203	2,611	925	1,686	592	192	400
2020-21	3,216	2,543	862	1,681	673	236	437
2021-22	3,174	2,574	887	1,687	600	203	397
2022-23	3,154	2,729	967	1,762	425	131	294
2023-24	3,158	2,746	937	1,809	412	125	287
2024-25	3,246	2,759	988	1,771	487	146	341
Average	3,115	3,115	930	1,695	3,115	154	336

Point Loma Nazarene University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 1,282 where 1,511 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 Point Loma Nazarene University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	896	290	88	202	606	162	444
2016-17	1,103	398	124	274	705	189	516
2017-18	1,317	484	152	332	833	239	594
2018-19	1,457	511	128	383	946	285	661
2019-20	1,364	511	121	390	853	252	601
2020-21	1,400	638	158	480	762	199	563
2021-22	1,271	559	156	403	712	215	497
2022-23	1,165	509	156	353	656	220	436
2023-24	1,336	587	184	403	749	225	524
2024-25	1,511	752	209	543	759	219	540
Average	1,282	1,282	148	376	1,282	221	538

Point Loma Nazarene University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 47.95% and the percentage of black students is 2.69% at Point Loma Nazarene University. 7.27% of enrolled students is Asian. Hispanic students comprise 30.78% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 56.46% to 47.95%. Asian enrollment grew from 5.08% to 7.27%. Black student enrollment increased from 2.59% to 2.69%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 24.11% to 30.78%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.6643 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.6154 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Point Loma Nazarene 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	20	186	95	883	32	2,068	242
2016-17	15	244	119	1,042	40	2,194	271
2017-18	15	267	122	1,229	43	2,268	297
2018-19	18	298	119	1,329	39	2,278	314
2019-20	17	297	98	1,310	29	2,303	326
2020-21	14	302	101	1,391	22	2,319	333
2021-22	14	322	105	1,314	21	2,210	311
2022-23	14	299	115	1,259	22	2,144	316
2023-24	16	289	123	1,343	19	2,225	324
2024-25	15	346	128	1,464	14	2,281	336
Average	16	285	113	1,256	28	2,229	307

Point Loma Nazarene University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

1,243 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 26% of total students. The number of online students has increased 1,281.11% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Point Loma Nazarene University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	3,663	90	552	3,021
2016-17	4,098	158	543	3,397
2017-18	4,417	241	680	3,496
2018-19	4,592	200	827	3,565
2019-20	4,567	200	965	3,402
2020-21	4,616	274	1,321	3,021
2021-22	4,445	459	1,201	2,785
2022-23	4,319	537	1,262	2,520
2023-24	4,494	947	1,187	2,360
2024-25	4,757	1,243	961	2,553
Average	4,397	435	950	3,012

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Enrollment Trends at PLNU

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

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