Enrollment Trends at RISD

The student population at Rhode Island School of Design is 2,520 (2,087 undergraduate and 433 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 39 (1.57%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at RISD is 82.82% which is increased by 73 over last 10 years. The graduate student population decreased by 34 and it has been decreasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 40 male students for every 100 female students, down from 46 in 2015.
All students have enrolled in on-campus classes (Rhode Island School of Design does not offer online degree/certificate program).

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 2,485 where 2,520 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 4 year-over-year increases and 5 decreases. It peaked at 2,620 students in 2023 and was lowest at 2,227 in 2021. Overall, enrollment rose from 2,481 to 2,520 students, a net gain of 39 (1.6%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Rhode Island School of Design since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	2,481	2,014	637	1,377	467	150	317
2016-17	2,477 -4	1,999 -15	625 -12	1,374 -3	478 11	146 -4	332 15
2017-18	2,440 -37	1,976 -23	634 9	1,342 -32	464 -14	167 21	297 -35
2018-19	2,467 27	1,994 18	645 11	1,349 7	473 9	172 5	301 4
2019-20	2,501 34	2,009 15	644 -1	1,365 16	492 19	166 -6	326 25
2020-21	2,227 -274	1,736 -273	591 -53	1,145 -220	491 -1	162 -4	329 3
2021-22	2,576 349	2,044 308	684 93	1,360 215	532 41	182 20	350 21
2022-23	2,620 44	2,108 64	691 7	1,417 57	512 -20	166 -16	346 -4
2023-24	2,540 -80	2,092 -16	650 -41	1,442 25	448 -64	121 -45	327 -19
2024-25	2,520 -20	2,087 -5	612 -38	1,475 33	433 -15	113 -8	320 -7
Average	2,485	2,006	641	1,365	479	155	325

Rhode Island School of Design Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 2,006 where 2,087 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 Rhode Island School of Design since 2015.

Year	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	2,014	2,014	637	1,377	0
2016-17	1,999	1,999	625	1,374	0
2017-18	1,976	1,976	634	1,342	0
2018-19	1,994	1,994	645	1,349	0
2019-20	2,009	2,009	644	1,365	0
2020-21	1,736	1,736	591	1,145	0
2021-22	2,044	2,044	684	1,360	0
2022-23	2,108	2,108	691	1,417	0
2023-24	2,092	2,092	650	1,442	0
2024-25	2,087	2,087	612	1,475	0
Average	2,006	2,006	641	1,365	2,006

Rhode Island School of Design Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 479 where 433 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 Rhode Island School of Design since 2015.

Year	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	467	467	150	317	0
2016-17	478	478	146	332	0
2017-18	464	464	167	297	0
2018-19	473	473	172	301	0
2019-20	492	492	166	326	0
2020-21	491	491	162	329	0
2021-22	532	532	182	350	0
2022-23	512	512	166	346	0
2023-24	448	448	121	327	0
2024-25	433	433	113	320	0
Average	479	479	155	325	479

Rhode Island School of Design Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 22.38% and the percentage of black students is 4.52% at Rhode Island School of Design. 22.42% of enrolled students is Asian. Hispanic students comprise 7.62% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 31.00% to 22.38%. Asian enrollment grew from 16.40% to 22.42%. Black student enrollment increased from 2.14% to 4.52%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 7.50% to 7.62%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.8898 which indicates that highly diverse. This increased from 0.8695 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Rhode Island School of Design 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	4	407	53	186	0	769	95
2016-17	4	426	61	189	0	773	100
2017-18	3	406	67	185	0	751	118
2018-19	4	382	80	201	0	714	117
2019-20	3	397	94	195	0	680	130
2020-21	2	402	94	189	0	588	124
2021-22	3	495	112	212	0	639	146
2022-23	3	509	112	215	0	618	130
2023-24	4	538	112	216	0	596	107
2024-25	2	565	114	192	0	564	113
Average	3	453	90	198	0	669	118

Rhode Island School of Design Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

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University of Rhode Island Public, 4-year | Kingston
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Enrollment Trends at RISD

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

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