The student population at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale is 11,790 (8,553 undergraduate and 3,237 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 5,502 over the past decade.
The percentage of undergraduate students at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale is 72.54% which is decreased by 4,478 over last 10 years. The graduate student population decreased by 1,024 and it has been decreasing.
The female to male ratio is 1.13 to 1 which means that female students enrolled slightly more than male students.
2,272 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 18.43% since 2015.
The average student population over the last 11 years is 12,923 where 11,790 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.
72.54% of total students is undergraduate students and 27.46% students is graduate students. The number of undergraduate students has decreased by 4,478 and the graduate enrollment has decreased by 1,024 over past 10 years.
The female to male ratio is 1.13 to 1 and it means that there are slightly more female students enrolled in Southern Illinois University-Carbondale than male students.
The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale since 2015.
| Year | Total | Undergraduate | Graduate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 17,292 | 13,031 | 7,078 | 5,953 | 4,261 | 2,136 | 2,125 |
| 2016-17 | 15,987 -1,305 | 12,182 -849 | 6,646 -432 | 5,536 -417 | 3,805 -456 | 1,937 -199 | 1,868 -257 |
| 2017-18 | 14,554 -1,433 | 10,987 -1,195 | 5,887 -759 | 5,100 -436 | 3,567 -238 | 1,798 -139 | 1,769 -99 |
| 2018-19 | 12,817 -1,737 | 9,552 -1,435 | 5,193 -694 | 4,359 -741 | 3,265 -302 | 1,594 -204 | 1,671 -98 |
| 2019-20 | 11,695 -1,122 | 8,466 -1,086 | 4,540 -653 | 3,926 -433 | 3,229 -36 | 1,492 -102 | 1,737 66 |
| 2020-21 | 11,366 -329 | 8,299 -167 | 4,316 -224 | 3,983 57 | 3,067 -162 | 1,453 -39 | 1,614 -123 |
| 2021-22 | 11,266 -100 | 8,147 -152 | 4,189 -127 | 3,958 -25 | 3,119 52 | 1,444 -9 | 1,675 61 |
| 2022-23 | 11,107 -159 | 8,000 -147 | 3,978 -211 | 4,022 64 | 3,107 -12 | 1,462 18 | 1,645 -30 |
| 2023-24 | 11,359 252 | 8,195 195 | 4,008 30 | 4,187 165 | 3,164 57 | 1,459 -3 | 1,705 60 |
| 2024-25 | 11,790 431 | 8,553 358 | 4,090 82 | 4,463 276 | 3,237 73 | 1,451 -8 | 1,786 81 |
| Average | 12,923 | 9,541 | 4,993 | 4,549 | 3,382 | 1,623 | 1,760 |
The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 9,541 where 8,553 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 Southern Illinois University-Carbondale since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 13,031 | 11,371 | 6,124 | 5,247 | 1,660 | 954 | 706 |
| 2016-17 | 12,182 | 10,554 | 5,668 | 4,886 | 1,628 | 978 | 650 |
| 2017-18 | 10,987 | 9,455 | 5,000 | 4,455 | 1,532 | 887 | 645 |
| 2018-19 | 9,552 | 8,088 | 4,317 | 3,771 | 1,464 | 876 | 588 |
| 2019-20 | 8,466 | 7,150 | 3,776 | 3,374 | 1,316 | 764 | 552 |
| 2020-21 | 8,299 | 6,796 | 3,431 | 3,365 | 1,503 | 885 | 618 |
| 2021-22 | 8,147 | 6,754 | 3,414 | 3,340 | 1,393 | 775 | 618 |
| 2022-23 | 8,000 | 6,715 | 3,251 | 3,464 | 1,285 | 727 | 558 |
| 2023-24 | 8,195 | 6,868 | 3,250 | 3,618 | 1,327 | 758 | 569 |
| 2024-25 | 8,553 | 7,360 | 3,413 | 3,947 | 1,193 | 677 | 516 |
| Average | 9,541 | 9,541 | 4,164 | 3,947 | 9,541 | 828 | 602 |
The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 3,382 where 3,237 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 Southern Illinois University-Carbondale since 2015.
| Year | Total | Full-time | Part-time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | ||
| 2015-16 | 4,261 | 2,589 | 1,281 | 1,308 | 1,672 | 855 | 817 |
| 2016-17 | 3,805 | 2,364 | 1,193 | 1,171 | 1,441 | 744 | 697 |
| 2017-18 | 3,567 | 2,422 | 1,245 | 1,177 | 1,145 | 553 | 592 |
| 2018-19 | 3,265 | 2,298 | 1,111 | 1,187 | 967 | 483 | 484 |
| 2019-20 | 3,229 | 2,227 | 1,047 | 1,180 | 1,002 | 445 | 557 |
| 2020-21 | 3,067 | 1,879 | 850 | 1,029 | 1,188 | 603 | 585 |
| 2021-22 | 3,119 | 1,883 | 830 | 1,053 | 1,236 | 614 | 622 |
| 2022-23 | 3,107 | 2,098 | 948 | 1,150 | 1,009 | 514 | 495 |
| 2023-24 | 3,164 | 2,120 | 938 | 1,182 | 1,044 | 521 | 523 |
| 2024-25 | 3,237 | 2,239 | 970 | 1,269 | 998 | 481 | 517 |
| Average | 3,382 | 3,382 | 1,041 | 1,171 | 3,382 | 581 | 589 |
The percentage of white students is 61.54%. The percentage was 61.85% 10 years ago and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale still has a high percentage of white students. 2.35% of enrolled students is Asian and 15.74% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 8.97% of the student body.
Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 61.85% to 61.54%. Asian enrollment grew from 1.86% to 2.35%. Black student enrollment decreased from 16.71% to 15.74%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 7.32% to 8.97%.
The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.5867 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.5831 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.
The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale 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 | 37 | 321 | 2,890 | 1,265 | 13 | 10,695 | 482 |
| 2016-17 | 33 | 317 | 2,509 | 1,224 | 14 | 10,039 | 477 |
| 2017-18 | 39 | 318 | 2,182 | 1,131 | 12 | 9,121 | 476 |
| 2018-19 | 30 | 297 | 1,832 | 1,020 | 8 | 8,138 | 382 |
| 2019-20 | 40 | 278 | 1,564 | 961 | 11 | 7,557 | 329 |
| 2020-21 | 26 | 285 | 1,554 | 961 | 11 | 7,301 | 295 |
| 2021-22 | 23 | 280 | 1,613 | 949 | 11 | 7,181 | 324 |
| 2022-23 | 26 | 280 | 1,665 | 897 | 12 | 7,084 | 335 |
| 2023-24 | 28 | 281 | 1,701 | 947 | 10 | 7,152 | 372 |
| 2024-25 | 27 | 277 | 1,856 | 1,058 | 14 | 7,255 | 417 |
| Average | 31 | 293 | 1,937 | 1,041 | 12 | 8,152 | 389 |
2,272 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 18.43% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale from 2015 to 2025.
| Year | Total Enrollment | Online Completely | Enrolled in Some Online Courses | Not Enrolled in Online Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 17,292 | 0 | 2,837 | 14,455 |
| 2016-17 | 15,987 | 0 | 3,235 | 12,752 |
| 2017-18 | 14,554 | 0 | 3,460 | 11,094 |
| 2018-19 | 12,817 | 2,095 | 2,504 | 8,218 |
| 2019-20 | 11,695 | 2,086 | 2,331 | 7,278 |
| 2020-21 | 11,366 | 1,725 | 2,592 | 7,049 |
| 2021-22 | 11,266 | 1,933 | 2,640 | 6,693 |
| 2022-23 | 11,107 | 1,883 | 2,809 | 6,415 |
| 2023-24 | 11,359 | 2,007 | 3,136 | 6,216 |
| 2024-25 | 11,790 | 2,272 | 3,360 | 6,158 |
| Average | 12,923 | 1,400 | 2,890 | 8,633 |
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