Enrollment Trends at Shepherd

The average student population over the last 11 years is 3,464 where 3,339 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 3,861 students in 2016 and was lowest at 3,015 in 2022. Overall, enrollment dropped from 3,861 to 3,339 students, a net loss of 522 (13.5%).

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

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 3,091 where 3,032 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 Shepherd University since 2015.

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 374 where 307 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 Shepherd University since 2015.

The percentage of white students is 72.90%. The percentage was 82.13% 10 years ago and Shepherd still has a high percentage of white students. 1.65% of enrolled students is Asian and 7.31% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 8.12% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 82.13% to 72.90%. Asian enrollment declined from 2.38% to 1.65%. Black student enrollment decreased from 8.78% to 7.31%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 2.69% to 8.12%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.4531 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This increased from 0.3162 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Shepherd University over the past 11 years (2015-2025).

461 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 14% of total students. The number of online students has increased 1,024.39% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Shepherd University from 2015 to 2025.