The student population at Shepherd University is 3,339 (3,032 undergraduate and 307 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 522 over the past decade.
The percentage of undergraduate students at Shepherd is 90.81% which is decreased by 617 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 95 and it has been increasing.
The female to male ratio is 1.62 to 1 which means that female students enrolled more than male students.
461 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 1,024.39% since 2015.
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.
90.81% of total students is undergraduate students and 9.19% students is graduate students. The number of undergraduate students has decreased by 617 and the graduate enrollment has increased by 95 over past 10 years.
The female to male ratio is 1.62 to 1 and it means that there are more female students enrolled in Shepherd than male students.
The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Shepherd University since 2015.
| Year | Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 3,861 | 3,649 | 1,528 | 2,121 | 212 | 70 | 142 |
| 2016-17 | 3,779 -82 | 3,436 -213 | 1,436 -92 | 2,000 -121 | 343 131 | 101 31 | 242 100 |
| 2017-18 | 3,736 -43 | 3,421 -15 | 1,488 52 | 1,933 -67 | 315 -28 | 88 -13 | 227 -15 |
| 2018-19 | 3,648 -88 | 3,380 -41 | 1,479 -9 | 1,901 -32 | 268 -47 | 80 -8 | 188 -39 |
| 2019-20 | 3,554 -94 | 3,200 -180 | 1,338 -141 | 1,862 -39 | 354 86 | 107 27 | 247 59 |
| 2020-21 | 3,159 -395 | 2,716 -484 | 1,114 -224 | 1,602 -260 | 443 89 | 102 -5 | 341 94 |
| 2021-22 | 3,015 -144 | 2,450 -266 | 970 -144 | 1,480 -122 | 565 122 | 125 23 | 440 99 |
| 2022-23 | 3,235 220 | 2,718 268 | 1,051 81 | 1,667 187 | 517 -48 | 130 5 | 387 -53 |
| 2023-24 | 3,318 83 | 2,906 188 | 1,146 95 | 1,760 93 | 412 -105 | 97 -33 | 315 -72 |
| 2024-25 | 3,339 21 | 3,032 126 | 1,194 48 | 1,838 78 | 307 -105 | 79 -18 | 228 -87 |
| Average | 3,464 | 3,091 | 1,274 | 1,816 | 374 | 98 | 276 |
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.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 3,649 | 2,935 | 1,219 | 1,716 | 714 | 309 | 405 |
| 2016-17 | 3,436 | 2,700 | 1,103 | 1,597 | 736 | 333 | 403 |
| 2017-18 | 3,421 | 2,614 | 1,089 | 1,525 | 807 | 399 | 408 |
| 2018-19 | 3,380 | 2,543 | 1,059 | 1,484 | 837 | 420 | 417 |
| 2019-20 | 3,200 | 2,354 | 983 | 1,371 | 846 | 355 | 491 |
| 2020-21 | 2,716 | 2,255 | 938 | 1,317 | 461 | 176 | 285 |
| 2021-22 | 2,450 | 2,040 | 805 | 1,235 | 410 | 165 | 245 |
| 2022-23 | 2,718 | 2,095 | 805 | 1,290 | 623 | 246 | 377 |
| 2023-24 | 2,906 | 2,164 | 854 | 1,310 | 742 | 292 | 450 |
| 2024-25 | 3,032 | 2,168 | 865 | 1,303 | 864 | 329 | 535 |
| Average | 3,091 | 3,091 | 972 | 1,415 | 3,091 | 302 | 402 |
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.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 212 | 66 | 27 | 39 | 146 | 43 | 103 |
| 2016-17 | 343 | 82 | 34 | 48 | 261 | 67 | 194 |
| 2017-18 | 315 | 96 | 39 | 57 | 219 | 49 | 170 |
| 2018-19 | 268 | 80 | 36 | 44 | 188 | 44 | 144 |
| 2019-20 | 354 | 102 | 47 | 55 | 252 | 60 | 192 |
| 2020-21 | 443 | 127 | 44 | 83 | 316 | 58 | 258 |
| 2021-22 | 565 | 145 | 57 | 88 | 420 | 68 | 352 |
| 2022-23 | 517 | 220 | 64 | 156 | 297 | 66 | 231 |
| 2023-24 | 412 | 158 | 50 | 108 | 254 | 47 | 207 |
| 2024-25 | 307 | 142 | 46 | 96 | 165 | 33 | 132 |
| Average | 374 | 374 | 44 | 77 | 374 | 54 | 198 |
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).
| Year | American Indian or Native American | Asian | Black | Hispanic | Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | White | Two or More Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 21 | 92 | 339 | 104 | 3 | 3,171 | 63 |
| 2016-17 | 23 | 71 | 302 | 125 | 2 | 3,093 | 68 |
| 2017-18 | 18 | 68 | 289 | 148 | 4 | 2,992 | 100 |
| 2018-19 | 25 | 66 | 272 | 193 | 15 | 2,830 | 118 |
| 2019-20 | 21 | 60 | 255 | 203 | 3 | 2,751 | 126 |
| 2020-21 | 12 | 74 | 229 | 186 | 4 | 2,400 | 137 |
| 2021-22 | 9 | 69 | 246 | 206 | 4 | 2,209 | 146 |
| 2022-23 | 9 | 75 | 249 | 235 | 3 | 2,370 | 171 |
| 2023-24 | 6 | 58 | 261 | 280 | 3 | 2,290 | 189 |
| 2024-25 | 14 | 55 | 244 | 271 | 6 | 2,434 | 191 |
| Average | 16 | 69 | 269 | 195 | 5 | 2,654 | 131 |
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.
| Year | Total Enrollment | Online Completely | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | Not Enrolled in Online Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 3,861 | 41 | 419 | 3,401 |
| 2016-17 | 3,779 | 96 | 646 | 3,037 |
| 2017-18 | 3,736 | 73 | 823 | 2,840 |
| 2018-19 | 3,648 | 91 | 807 | 2,750 |
| 2019-20 | 3,554 | 107 | 946 | 2,501 |
| 2020-21 | 3,159 | 630 | 1,963 | 566 |
| 2021-22 | 3,015 | 573 | 1,584 | 858 |
| 2022-23 | 3,235 | 533 | 1,533 | 1,169 |
| 2023-24 | 3,318 | 451 | 1,584 | 1,283 |
| 2024-25 | 3,339 | 461 | 1,673 | 1,205 |
| Average | 3,464 | 306 | 1,198 | 1,961 |
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