Enrollment Trends for Illinois Colleges

Illinois Colleges Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 454,531 students were enrolled in Illinois colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population decreased by -1% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a decrease of -6.65% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 12.10% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more women students than men, with a ratio of 1.47 women to 1 man.
- Women Enrollment: Women students total 270,283 and have increased by 4.35% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Men students total 184,248 and have decreased by -7.37% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 120,982 students (26.62%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 91% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 447,739, and 454,531 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 64.45% are undergraduate students and 35.55% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 21,005, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 17,000.

The women to men ratio is 1.46 to 1, meaning that there are more women students enrolled in Illinois Colleges than men students.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Illinois Colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	457,912	313,548	138,373	175,175	144,364	60,531	83,833
2015-16	458,806 894	310,864 -2,684	136,255 -2,118	174,609 -566	147,942 3,578	61,487 956	86,455 2,622
2016-17	451,215 -7,591	302,617 -8,247	131,870 -4,385	170,747 -3,862	148,598 656	61,192 -295	87,406 951
2017-18	443,901 -7,314	294,636 -7,981	128,018 -3,852	166,618 -4,129	149,265 667	60,243 -949	89,022 1,616
2018-19	440,536 -3,365	290,626 -4,010	125,459 -2,559	165,167 -1,451	149,910 645	59,245 -998	90,665 1,643
2019-20	441,218 682	289,062 -1,564	123,631 -1,828	165,431 264	152,156 2,246	59,120 -125	93,036 2,371
2020-21	444,757 3,539	287,786 -1,276	121,194 -2,437	166,592 1,161	156,971 4,815	60,003 883	96,968 3,932
2021-22	445,795 1,038	286,118 -1,668	120,475 -719	165,643 -949	159,677 2,706	61,622 1,619	98,055 1,087
2022-23	440,802 -4,993	283,400 -2,718	119,836 -639	163,564 -2,079	157,402 -2,275	61,369 -253	96,033 -2,022
2023-24	445,656 4,854	287,202 3,802	120,738 902	166,464 2,900	158,454 1,052	61,646 277	96,808 775
2024-25	454,531 8,875	292,703 5,501	122,001 1,263	170,702 4,238	161,828 3,374	62,247 601	99,581 2,773
Average	447,739	294,415	126,168	168,247	153,324	60,791	92,533

Illinois Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 294,415. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 20,845 from 313,548 to 292,703.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Illinois Colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	313,548	253,514	116,498	137,016	60,034	21,875	38,159
2015-16	310,864	251,587	115,484	136,103	59,277	20,771	38,506
2016-17	302,617	245,713	112,508	133,205	56,904	19,362	37,542
2017-18	294,636	241,300	109,906	131,394	53,336	18,112	35,224
2018-19	290,626	238,912	108,167	130,745	51,714	17,292	34,422
2019-20	289,062	238,600	107,007	131,593	50,462	16,624	33,838
2020-21	287,786	234,000	103,326	130,674	53,786	17,868	35,918
2021-22	286,118	232,994	102,791	130,203	53,124	17,684	35,440
2022-23	283,400	232,046	102,689	129,357	51,354	17,147	34,207
2023-24	287,202	235,251	103,448	131,803	51,951	17,290	34,661
2024-25	292,703	240,360	104,848	135,512	52,343	17,153	35,190
Average	294,415	294,415	107,879	132,510	294,415	18,289	35,737

Illinois Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 153,324. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 17,464 from 144,364 to 161,828.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Illinois Colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	144,364	78,500	36,475	42,025	65,864	24,056	41,808
2015-16	147,942	79,200	37,115	42,085	68,742	24,372	44,370
2016-17	148,598	79,482	37,086	42,396	69,116	24,106	45,010
2017-18	149,265	79,688	36,375	43,313	69,577	23,868	45,709
2018-19	149,910	79,051	35,536	43,515	70,859	23,709	47,150
2019-20	152,156	79,678	35,322	44,356	72,478	23,798	48,680
2020-21	156,971	80,375	34,763	45,612	76,596	25,240	51,356
2021-22	159,677	84,125	36,851	47,274	75,552	24,771	50,781
2022-23	157,402	85,678	37,938	47,740	71,724	23,431	48,293
2023-24	158,454	89,487	39,367	50,120	68,967	22,279	46,688
2024-25	161,828	91,770	39,867	51,903	70,058	22,380	47,678
Average	153,324	153,324	36,972	45,485	153,324	23,819	47,048

Illinois Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 41.35% and the percentage of black students is 13.07% at Illinois Colleges. 9.42% of enrolled students is Asian.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Illinois Colleges over the past 11 years (2014-2025).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2014-15	935	32,314	51,933	48,842	736	249,365	10,549
2015-16	916	33,458	51,569	52,364	729	243,949	10,834
2016-17	840	34,360	49,063	54,852	743	236,191	11,220
2017-18	793	35,881	47,476	58,037	621	229,194	11,581
2018-19	771	36,331	47,493	60,608	639	223,880	12,375
2019-20	857	37,417	48,550	63,453	624	220,921	12,477
2020-21	843	39,221	51,495	68,861	576	217,814	13,057
2021-22	830	41,354	51,090	70,844	603	210,327	13,366
2022-23	820	41,238	52,263	71,567	608	197,221	13,188
2023-24	878	41,844	54,866	74,856	556	190,766	13,565
2024-25	991	42,757	59,342	77,153	537	187,708	13,845
Average	861	37,834	51,376	63,767	634	218,849	12,369

Illinois Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

120,982 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 27% of total students. The number of online students has increased 270.44% since 2013.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Illinois Colleges from 2012 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	436,602	32,659	40,476	363,467
2013-14	458,639	57,469	45,844	355,326
2014-15	457,912	63,353	46,224	348,335
2015-16	458,806	68,063	49,178	341,565
2016-17	451,215	69,007	59,043	323,165
2017-18	443,901	72,485	58,472	312,944
2018-19	440,536	79,009	61,725	299,802
2019-20	441,218	83,013	67,346	290,859
2020-21	444,771	218,902	100,824	125,045
2021-22	445,795	126,156	147,542	172,097
2022-23	440,802	111,994	130,901	197,907
2023-24	445,656	114,007	126,054	205,595
2024-25	454,531	120,982	128,400	205,149
Average	447,722	93,623	81,695	272,404