Enrollment Trends for Iowa Colleges

There are 38 active four-years colleges and universities in Iowa - 3 public and 35 private schools. In the academic year 2022-2023, a total of 120,286 students have enrolled in four-years colleges in Iowa including undergraduate and graduate programs. Compared to the population of 10 years ago, the the number of students decreased by 7.32% from 129,790 to 120,286. The undergraduate population decreased by 10.66% and the graduate population increased by 5.77% in last 10 years at Iowa Colleges.

By gender, there are 64,267 female students and 56,019 male students enrolled in the schools. The female to male students ratio is 1.15 to 1. The female students decreased by 6.08% and male students decreased by 8.71% in that period.

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Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 129,858, and 120,286 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2022-2023. Of the total students, 76.80% are undergraduate students and 23.20% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 11,026, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 1,522.

The female to male ratio is 1.15 to 1, meaning that there are slightly more female students enrolled in Iowa Colleges than male students.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Iowa Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	129,790	103,408	49,336	54,072	26,382	12,030	14,352
2013-14	131,453 1,663	104,884 1,476	50,141 805	54,743 671	26,569 187	11,978 -52	14,591 239
2014-15	133,012 1,559	105,691 807	51,072 931	54,619 -124	27,321 752	12,232 254	15,089 498
2015-16	134,420 1,408	106,704 1,013	51,626 554	55,078 459	27,716 395	12,610 378	15,106 17
2016-17	136,131 1,711	107,804 1,100	52,339 713	55,465 387	28,327 611	12,916 306	15,411 305
2017-18	135,623 -508	107,061 -743	52,114 -225	54,947 -518	28,562 235	12,818 -98	15,744 333
2018-19	132,544 -3,079	104,146 -2,915	50,731 -1,383	53,415 -1,532	28,398 -164	12,540 -278	15,858 114
2019-20	129,115 -3,429	100,926 -3,220	48,823 -1,908	52,103 -1,312	28,189 -209	12,294 -246	15,895 37
2020-21	124,397 -4,718	96,399 -4,527	46,168 -2,655	50,231 -1,872	27,998 -191	12,095 -199	15,903 8
2021-22	121,667 -2,730	93,341 -3,058	44,585 -1,583	48,756 -1,475	28,326 328	12,245 150	16,081 178
2022-23	120,286 -1,381	92,382 -959	44,068 -517	48,314 -442	27,904 -422	11,951 -294	15,953 -128
Average	129,858	102,068	49,182	52,886	27,790	12,337	15,453

Iowa Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 102,068. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 11,026 from 103,408 to 92,382.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Iowa Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	103,408	92,340	44,716	47,624	11,068	4,620	6,448
2013-14	104,884	93,693	45,317	48,376	11,191	4,824	6,367
2014-15	105,691	93,908	45,908	48,000	11,783	5,164	6,619
2015-16	106,704	94,874	46,488	48,386	11,830	5,138	6,692
2016-17	107,804	95,174	46,729	48,445	12,630	5,610	7,020
2017-18	107,061	94,582	46,497	48,085	12,479	5,617	6,862
2018-19	104,146	93,192	45,741	47,451	10,954	4,990	5,964
2019-20	100,926	90,287	44,055	46,232	10,639	4,768	5,871
2020-21	96,399	86,229	41,590	44,639	10,170	4,578	5,592
2021-22	93,341	84,221	40,596	43,625	9,120	3,989	5,131
2022-23	92,382	83,529	40,187	43,342	8,853	3,881	4,972
Average	102,068	102,068	44,348	46,746	102,068	4,834	6,140

Iowa Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 27,790. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 1,522 from 26,382 to 27,904.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Iowa Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	26,382	15,779	7,637	8,142	10,603	4,393	6,210
2013-14	26,569	15,804	7,513	8,291	10,765	4,465	6,300
2014-15	27,321	16,446	7,908	8,538	10,875	4,324	6,551
2015-16	27,716	16,812	8,332	8,480	10,904	4,278	6,626
2016-17	28,327	16,666	8,288	8,378	11,661	4,628	7,033
2017-18	28,562	16,744	8,128	8,616	11,818	4,690	7,128
2018-19	28,398	16,678	7,950	8,728	11,720	4,590	7,130
2019-20	28,189	17,242	8,136	9,106	10,947	4,158	6,789
2020-21	27,998	16,216	7,448	8,768	11,782	4,647	7,135
2021-22	28,326	16,767	7,732	9,035	11,559	4,513	7,046
2022-23	27,904	16,875	7,796	9,079	11,029	4,155	6,874
Average	27,790	27,790	7,897	8,651	27,790	4,440	6,802

Iowa Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 70.65%. The percentage was 75.95% 10 years ago and Iowa Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 3.68% of enrolled students is Asian and 4.57% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Iowa Colleges over the past 11 years (2012-2023).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2012-13	386	3,234	5,039	5,165	183	98,573	1,856
2013-14	374	3,317	5,242	5,751	194	98,514	2,345
2014-15	353	3,462	5,402	6,195	262	97,420	2,553
2015-16	362	3,731	5,695	6,803	258	96,982	2,758
2016-17	385	4,041	5,928	7,420	174	97,497	3,006
2017-18	403	4,156	6,051	7,696	178	96,548	3,165
2018-19	406	4,209	5,997	7,818	179	94,358	3,355
2019-20	314	4,153	5,609	8,034	192	91,382	3,395
2020-21	367	4,228	5,588	8,257	184	88,508	3,538
2021-22	311	4,332	5,597	8,476	164	86,488	3,605
2022-23	297	4,423	5,496	8,608	172	84,984	3,733
Average	360	3,935	5,604	7,293	195	93,750	3,028

Iowa Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

16,725 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2022-2023, which is 14% of total students. The number of online students has increased 92.37% since 2013.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Iowa Colleges from 2012 to 2023.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	129,790	8,694	11,434	109,662
2013-14	131,453	8,727	15,112	107,614
2014-15	133,012	12,802	18,650	101,560
2015-16	134,420	12,731	24,005	97,684
2016-17	136,131	14,508	17,709	103,914
2017-18	135,623	15,154	19,377	101,092
2018-19	132,544	15,887	26,350	90,307
2019-20	129,115	16,228	27,462	85,425
2020-21	124,397	21,300	57,321	45,776
2021-22	121,667	16,650	40,603	64,414
2022-23	120,286	16,725	39,592	63,969
Average	129,858	14,491	27,056	88,311

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