Enrollment Trends at Southwest Minnesota State

The student population at Southwest Minnesota State University is 8,214 (7,735 undergraduate and 479 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 938 (12.89%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at Southwest Minnesota State is 94.17% which is increased by 867 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 71 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 62 male students for every 100 female students, down from 68 in 2015.
1,293 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 241.16% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 7,286 where 8,214 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 5 year-over-year increases and 4 decreases. It peaked at 8,214 students in 2025 and was lowest at 6,930 in 2023. Overall, enrollment rose from 7,276 to 8,214 students, a net gain of 938 (12.9%).

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	7,276	6,868	2,793	4,075	408	152	256
2016-17	7,495 219	7,007 139	2,913 120	4,094 19	488 80	173 21	315 59
2017-18	7,154 -341	6,713 -294	2,752 -161	3,961 -133	441 -47	140 -33	301 -14
2018-19	7,167 13	6,692 -21	2,715 -37	3,977 16	475 34	130 -10	345 44
2019-20	7,058 -109	6,636 -56	2,623 -92	4,013 36	422 -53	118 -12	304 -41
2020-21	7,259 201	6,846 210	2,664 41	4,182 169	413 -9	131 13	282 -22
2021-22	6,986 -273	6,556 -290	2,533 -131	4,023 -159	430 17	143 12	287 5
2022-23	6,930 -56	6,518 -38	2,491 -42	4,027 4	412 -18	132 -11	280 -7
2023-24	7,324 394	6,884 366	2,648 157	4,236 209	440 28	144 12	296 16
2024-25	8,214 890	7,735 851	2,992 344	4,743 507	479 39	150 6	329 33
Average	7,286	6,846	2,712	4,133	441	141	300

Southwest Minnesota State University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 6,846 where 7,735 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 Southwest Minnesota State University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	6,868	2,066	902	1,164	4,802	1,891	2,911
2016-17	7,007	2,056	941	1,115	4,951	1,972	2,979
2017-18	6,713	1,932	866	1,066	4,781	1,886	2,895
2018-19	6,692	1,811	796	1,015	4,881	1,919	2,962
2019-20	6,636	1,662	725	937	4,974	1,898	3,076
2020-21	6,846	1,610	667	943	5,236	1,997	3,239
2021-22	6,556	1,650	697	953	4,906	1,836	3,070
2022-23	6,518	1,500	590	910	5,018	1,901	3,117
2023-24	6,884	1,591	616	975	5,293	2,032	3,261
2024-25	7,735	1,773	653	1,120	5,962	2,339	3,623
Average	6,846	6,846	745	1,020	6,846	1,967	3,113

Southwest Minnesota State University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 441 where 479 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 Southwest Minnesota State University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	408	251	80	171	157	72	85
2016-17	488	315	101	214	173	72	101
2017-18	441	285	78	207	156	62	94
2018-19	475	305	76	229	170	54	116
2019-20	422	245	57	188	177	61	116
2020-21	413	225	63	162	188	68	120
2021-22	430	225	63	162	205	80	125
2022-23	412	208	55	153	204	77	127
2023-24	440	257	83	174	183	61	122
2024-25	479	271	84	187	208	66	142
Average	441	441	74	185	441	67	115

Southwest Minnesota State University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 76.24%. The percentage was 85.60% 10 years ago and Southwest Minnesota State still has a high percentage of white students. 1.94% of enrolled students is Asian and 3.52% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 5.95% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 85.60% to 76.24%. Asian enrollment grew from 1.54% to 1.94%. Black student enrollment increased from 1.99% to 3.52%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 3.35% to 5.95%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.4126 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This increased from 0.2652 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Southwest Minnesota 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	17	112	145	244	0	6,228	145
2016-17	27	131	185	265	2	6,209	154
2017-18	27	120	153	260	7	6,001	179
2018-19	27	120	170	254	5	6,008	200
2019-20	20	130	176	314	6	5,843	186
2020-21	19	137	235	345	14	5,974	205
2021-22	20	135	225	339	10	5,569	206
2022-23	22	122	235	349	2	5,449	203
2023-24	17	129	231	403	5	5,783	205
2024-25	20	159	289	489	7	6,262	272
Average	22	130	204	326	6	5,933	196

Southwest Minnesota State University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

1,293 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 16% of total students. The number of online students has increased 241.16% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Southwest Minnesota State University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	7,276	379	777	6,120
2016-17	7,495	509	847	6,139
2017-18	7,154	441	899	5,814
2018-19	7,167	471	943	5,753
2019-20	7,058	525	930	5,603
2020-21	7,259	574	975	5,710
2021-22	6,986	668	975	5,343
2022-23	6,930	825	888	5,217
2023-24	7,324	951	811	5,562
2024-25	8,214	1,293	730	6,191
Average	7,286	664	878	5,745

Most Searched Minnesota Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Public, 4-year | Minneapolis
Carleton College Private, 4-year | Northfield
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science Private, 4-year | Rochester
Gustavus Adolphus College Private, 4-year | Saint Peter
St Olaf College Private, 4-year | Northfield
Normandale Community College Public, 2-4 year | Bloomington
University of Minnesota-Duluth Public, 4-year | Duluth
University of St Thomas Private, 4-year | Saint Paul
Minnesota North College Public, 2-4 year | Hibbing
Ridgewater College Public, 2-4 year | Willmar

compare schools

Graduate

Capella University Private, 4-year | Minneapolis
Walden University Private, 4-year | Minneapolis
Bemidji State University Public, 4-year | Bemidji
Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range Virginia Public, 2-4 year | Virginia
The College of Saint Scholastica Private, 4-year | Duluth
Empire Beauty School-Spring Lake Park Private, Less than 2-year | Spring Lake Park
Hamline University Private, 4-year | Saint Paul
Normandale Community College Public, 2-4 year | Bloomington
Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Private, 4-year | Rochester
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Office Public, 4-year | ST PAUL

compare schools

Online Schools

Capella University Private, 4-year | Minneapolis
Concordia College at Moorhead Private, 4-year | Moorhead
Saint Johns University Private, 4-year | Collegeville
Walden University Private, 4-year | Minneapolis
Bemidji State University Public, 4-year | Bemidji
Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range Virginia Public, 2-4 year | Virginia
The College of Saint Scholastica Private, 4-year | Duluth
Empire Beauty School-Spring Lake Park Private, Less than 2-year | Spring Lake Park
Hamline University Private, 4-year | Saint Paul
Normandale Community College Public, 2-4 year | Bloomington

compare schools

Trade Schools

Minnesota North College Public, 2-4 year | Hibbing
Anoka Technical College Public, 2-4 year | Anoka
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Private, 4-year | Winona
The Salon Professional Academy-Rochester Private, Less than 2-year | Rochester
University of Minnesota-Morris Public, 4-year | Morris
St Catherine University Private, 4-year | Saint Paul
Minnesota North College - Itasca Public, 2-4 year | Grand Rapids
Bemidji State University Public, 4-year | Bemidji
Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range Virginia Public, 2-4 year | Virginia
The College of Saint Scholastica Private, 4-year | Duluth

compare schools

Enrollment Trends at Southwest Minnesota State

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

Ratings & Review