Enrollment Trends for Missouri Colleges

Missouri Colleges Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 274,044 students were enrolled in Missouri colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population decreased by -10% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a decrease of -14.18% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 0.81% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more female students than male, with a ratio of 1.29 female to 1 male.
- Women Enrollment: Female students total 154,501 and have decreased by -9.37% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Male students total 119,543 and have decreased by -11.64% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 56,991 students (20.80%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 35% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 282,974, and 274,044 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 73.00% are undergraduate students and 27.00% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 16,703, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 630.

The females per 100 male students ratio is 75.48, meaning that there are far more female students enrolled in Missouri Colleges than male students. You can check the males per 100 female students ratio trends over the years for Missouri colleges.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	305,766	228,182	101,370	126,812	77,584	33,923	43,661
2015-16	303,731 -2,035	226,126 -2,056	100,195 -1,175	125,931 -881	77,605 21	34,204 281	43,401 -260
2016-17	302,222 -1,509	225,658 -468	99,794 -401	125,864 -67	76,564 -1,041	33,227 -977	43,337 -64
2017-18	291,426 -10,796	216,470 -9,188	95,022 -4,772	121,448 -4,416	74,956 -1,608	31,895 -1,332	43,061 -276
2018-19	286,549 -4,877	210,667 -5,803	93,037 -1,985	117,630 -3,818	75,882 926	31,927 32	43,955 894
2019-20	278,289 -8,260	203,151 -7,516	89,205 -3,832	113,946 -3,684	75,138 -744	31,209 -718	43,929 -26
2020-21	265,840 -12,449	191,801 -11,350	82,969 -6,236	108,832 -5,114	74,039 -1,099	30,435 -774	43,604 -325
2021-22	261,324 -4,516	187,087 -4,714	80,538 -2,431	106,549 -2,283	74,237 198	31,151 716	43,086 -518
2022-23	269,765 8,441	194,507 7,420	83,455 2,917	111,052 4,503	75,258 1,021	32,385 1,234	42,873 -213
2023-24	273,754 3,989	194,506 -1	84,114 659	110,392 -660	79,248 3,990	34,603 2,218	44,645 1,772
2024-25	274,044 290	195,830 1,324	85,228 1,114	110,602 210	78,214 -1,034	34,315 -288	43,899 -746
Average	282,974	206,726	90,448	116,278	76,248	32,661	43,586

Missouri Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 206,726. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 32,352 from 228,182 to 195,830.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Female	Total	Men	Female
2014-15	228,182	162,135	73,418	88,717	66,047	27,952	38,095
2015-16	226,126	162,283	73,387	88,896	63,843	26,808	37,035
2016-17	225,658	157,099	70,601	86,498	68,559	29,193	39,366
2017-18	216,470	153,709	68,582	85,127	62,761	26,440	36,321
2018-19	210,667	148,511	66,194	82,317	62,156	26,843	35,313
2019-20	203,151	143,383	63,486	79,897	59,768	25,719	34,049
2020-21	191,801	136,881	59,623	77,258	54,920	23,346	31,574
2021-22	187,087	130,331	56,719	73,612	56,756	23,819	32,937
2022-23	194,507	130,680	56,807	73,873	63,827	26,648	37,179
2023-24	194,506	130,640	57,283	73,357	63,866	26,831	37,035
2024-25	195,830	131,907	58,215	73,692	63,923	27,013	36,910
Average	206,726	206,726	64,029	80,295	206,726	26,419	35,983

Missouri Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 76,248. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 630 from 77,584 to 78,214.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Female	Total	Men	Female
2014-15	77,584	38,073	18,640	19,433	39,511	15,283	24,228
2015-16	77,605	39,704	19,601	20,103	37,901	14,603	23,298
2016-17	76,564	38,797	18,728	20,069	37,767	14,499	23,268
2017-18	74,956	38,020	18,014	20,006	36,936	13,881	23,055
2018-19	75,882	38,501	18,048	20,453	37,381	13,879	23,502
2019-20	75,138	38,150	17,653	20,497	36,988	13,556	23,432
2020-21	74,039	36,900	16,774	20,126	37,139	13,661	23,478
2021-22	74,237	39,509	18,311	21,198	34,728	12,840	21,888
2022-23	75,258	41,166	19,356	21,810	34,092	13,029	21,063
2023-24	79,248	44,708	21,399	23,309	34,540	13,204	21,336
2024-25	78,214	42,474	19,915	22,559	35,740	14,400	21,340
Average	76,248	76,248	18,767	20,869	76,248	13,894	22,717

Missouri Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 58.57%. The percentage was 67.48% 10 years ago and Missouri Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 4.12% of enrolled students is Asian and 8.28% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Missouri 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	1,429	9,622	35,474	12,144	434	206,333	7,292
2015-16	1,390	9,595	33,722	12,805	425	201,940	7,606
2016-17	1,391	10,083	33,179	13,942	472	201,631	7,854
2017-18	1,340	10,212	31,258	14,651	452	195,340	8,128
2018-19	1,301	10,485	30,633	15,321	439	192,354	8,710
2019-20	1,239	10,688	28,859	15,711	447	185,339	9,223
2020-21	1,184	11,147	26,950	16,274	491	178,081	9,409
2021-22	1,112	11,373	25,021	16,450	433	172,237	9,445
2022-23	1,209	11,439	23,686	17,101	437	172,452	10,022
2023-24	1,187	11,448	23,938	17,730	395	170,950	10,494
2024-25	1,263	11,937	23,984	18,269	419	169,671	10,912
Average	1,277	10,730	28,791	15,491	440	186,030	9,009

Missouri Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

56,991 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 20% of total students. The number of online students has increased 68.28% since 2013.

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

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	303,404	33,867	40,883	228,654
2013-14	305,828	35,280	50,106	220,442
2014-15	305,766	42,117	52,053	211,596
2015-16	303,731	41,979	50,574	211,178
2016-17	302,222	44,080	52,146	205,996
2017-18	291,426	45,983	51,910	193,533
2018-19	286,549	48,910	53,148	184,491
2019-20	278,289	50,200	58,393	169,696
2020-21	265,840	73,881	106,017	85,942
2021-22	261,324	57,477	81,329	122,518
2022-23	269,765	56,327	74,653	138,785
2023-24	273,754	57,512	77,117	139,125
2024-25	274,044	56,991	78,509	138,544
Average	286,303	49,585	63,603	173,115

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