Enrollment Trends at Southeast Missouri State

The student population at Southeast Missouri State University is 9,501 (7,926 undergraduate and 1,575 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 2,486 (20.74%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at Southeast Missouri State is 83.42% which is decreased by 2,661 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 175 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 69 male students for every 100 female students, down from 76 in 2015.
1,841 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 45.53% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 10,613 where 9,501 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 1 year-over-year increase and 8 decreases. It peaked at 11,987 students in 2016 and was lowest at 9,501 in 2025. Overall, enrollment dropped from 11,987 to 9,501 students, a net loss of 2,486 (20.7%).

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	11,987	10,587	4,658	5,929	1,400	508	892
2016-17	11,978 -9	10,693 106	4,591 -67	6,102 173	1,285 -115	481 -27	804 -88
2017-18	11,486 -492	10,458 -235	4,378 -213	6,080 -22	1,028 -257	349 -132	679 -125
2018-19	11,071 -415	10,041 -417	4,144 -234	5,897 -183	1,030 2	343 -6	687 8
2019-20	10,637 -434	9,524 -517	3,905 -239	5,619 -278	1,113 83	364 21	749 62
2020-21	10,001 -636	8,929 -595	3,494 -411	5,435 -184	1,072 -41	353 -11	719 -30
2021-22	9,851 -150	8,629 -300	3,373 -121	5,256 -179	1,222 150	480 127	742 23
2022-23	9,927 76	8,454 -175	3,369 -4	5,085 -171	1,473 251	648 168	825 83
2023-24	9,686 -241	8,099 -355	3,221 -148	4,878 -207	1,587 114	739 91	848 23
2024-25	9,501 -185	7,926 -173	3,205 -16	4,721 -157	1,575 -12	658 -81	917 69
Average	10,613	9,334	3,834	5,500	1,279	492	786

Southeast Missouri State University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 9,334 where 7,926 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 Southeast Missouri State University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	10,587	7,924	3,542	4,382	2,663	1,116	1,547
2016-17	10,693	7,896	3,424	4,472	2,797	1,167	1,630
2017-18	10,458	7,779	3,323	4,456	2,679	1,055	1,624
2018-19	10,041	7,296	3,060	4,236	2,745	1,084	1,661
2019-20	9,524	7,152	2,899	4,253	2,372	1,006	1,366
2020-21	8,929	6,823	2,661	4,162	2,106	833	1,273
2021-22	8,629	6,548	2,562	3,986	2,081	811	1,270
2022-23	8,454	6,312	2,516	3,796	2,142	853	1,289
2023-24	8,099	5,967	2,406	3,561	2,132	815	1,317
2024-25	7,926	5,778	2,353	3,425	2,148	852	1,296
Average	9,334	9,334	2,875	4,073	9,334	959	1,427

Southeast Missouri State University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 1,279 where 1,575 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 Southeast Missouri State University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	1,400	492	208	284	908	300	608
2016-17	1,285	448	190	258	837	291	546
2017-18	1,028	370	129	241	658	220	438
2018-19	1,030	381	145	236	649	198	451
2019-20	1,113	452	176	276	661	188	473
2020-21	1,072	426	159	267	646	194	452
2021-22	1,222	618	304	314	604	176	428
2022-23	1,473	821	430	391	652	218	434
2023-24	1,587	987	544	443	600	195	405
2024-25	1,575	933	474	459	642	184	458
Average	1,279	1,279	276	317	1,279	216	469

Southeast Missouri State University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 67.80%. The percentage was 70.43% 10 years ago and Southeast Missouri State still has a high percentage of white students. 0.93% of enrolled students is Asian and 6.70% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 2.87% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 70.43% to 67.80%. Asian enrollment declined from 0.99% to 0.93%. Black student enrollment decreased from 8.60% to 6.70%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 1.66% to 2.87%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.5340 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This increased from 0.4962 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Southeast 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
Year	2015-16	43	119	1,031	199	2	8,442	32
2016-17	41	137	1,037	209	2	9,106	67
2017-18	35	130	955	211	3	9,188	100
2018-19	26	134	896	226	4	8,874	164
2019-20	19	127	872	213	6	8,467	188
2020-21	12	103	836	232	8	7,981	218
2021-22	18	100	807	265	4	7,557	254
2022-23	15	79	747	308	3	7,226	288
2023-24	21	95	648	268	2	6,876	287
2024-25	25	88	637	273	4	6,442	286
Average	26	111	847	240	4	8,016	188

Southeast Missouri State University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

1,841 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 19% of total students. The number of online students has increased 45.53% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Southeast Missouri State University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	11,987	1,265	4,175	6,547
2016-17	11,978	1,714	4,030	6,234
2017-18	11,486	1,796	4,225	5,465
2018-19	11,071	1,812	3,188	6,071
2019-20	10,637	1,704	3,849	5,084
2020-21	10,001	1,735	4,232	4,034
2021-22	9,851	1,705	4,277	3,869
2022-23	9,927	1,941	4,277	3,709
2023-24	9,686	1,753	4,534	3,399
2024-25	9,501	1,841	3,981	3,679
Average	10,613	1,727	4,077	4,809

Most Searched Missouri Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

University of Missouri-Columbia Public, 4-year | Columbia
Washington University in St Louis Private, 4-year | St. Louis
Saint Louis University Private, 4-year | Saint Louis
Southeast Missouri State University Public, 4-year | Cape Girardeau
College of the Ozarks Private, 4-year | Point Lookout
University of Missouri-Kansas City Public, 4-year | Kansas City
WellSpring School of Allied Health-Kansas City Private, 2-4 year | Kansas City
Missouri University of Science and Technology Public, 4-year | Rolla
Truman State University Public, 4-year | Kirksville
Missouri State University-Springfield Public, 4-year | Springfield

compare schools

Graduate

Avila University Private, 4-year | Kansas City
Missouri University of Science and Technology Public, 4-year | Rolla
Southeast Missouri State University Public, 4-year | Cape Girardeau
Webster University Private, 4-year | Saint Louis
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Private, 4-year | Kansas City
University of Missouri-Columbia Public, 4-year | Columbia
Northwest Missouri State University Public, 4-year | Maryville
William Jewell College Private, 4-year | Liberty
University of Missouri-St Louis Public, 4-year | Saint Louis
Calvary University Private, 4-year | Kansas City

compare schools

Online Schools

Missouri Baptist University Private, 4-year | Saint Louis
Avila University Private, 4-year | Kansas City
Crowder College Public, 2-4 year | Neosho
Drury University-College of Continuing Professional Studies Private, 4-year | Springfield
University of Missouri-Columbia Public, 4-year | Columbia
Urshan Graduate School of Theology Private, 4-year | Wentzville
Jefferson College Public, 2-4 year | Hillsboro
University of Central Missouri Public, 4-year | Warrensburg
University of Missouri-St Louis Public, 4-year | Saint Louis
Washington University in St Louis Private, 4-year | St. Louis

compare schools

Trade Schools

Ozarks Technical Community College Public, 4-year | Springfield
Paul Mitchell the School-Springfield Private, Less than 2-year | Springfield
Lake Career and Technical Center Public, Less than 2-year | Camdenton
Healing Arts Center Private, Less than 2-year | St. Louis
New Dimensions School Private, Less than 2-year | Joplin
The Continents States University Private, 4-year | St. Louis
St Louis Hair Academy Private, Less than 2-year | Saint Louis
Ea La Mar's Cosmetology & Barber College Private, Less than 2-year | Kansas City
Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center Public, Less than 2-year | Poplar Bluff
Neosho Beauty and Barber College Private, Less than 2-year | Neosho

compare schools

Enrollment Trends at Southeast Missouri State

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

Ratings & Review