Enrollment Trends for Montana Colleges

Montana Colleges Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 40,489 students were enrolled in Montana colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population decreased by -7% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a decrease of -10.42% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 23.91% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more women students than men, with a ratio of 1.19 women to 1 man.
- Women Enrollment: Women students total 22,004 and have decreased by -2.50% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Men students total 18,485 and have decreased by -11.07% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 5,334 students (13.17%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 98% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 40,803, and 40,489 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 85.27% are undergraduate students and 14.73% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 4,016, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 1,151.

The women to men ratio is 1.19 to 1, meaning that there are slightly more women students enrolled in Montana Colleges than men students.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	43,354	38,540	18,701	19,839	4,814	2,085	2,729
2015-16	42,434 -920	37,702 -838	18,439 -262	19,263 -576	4,732 -82	1,971 -114	2,761 32
2016-17	42,624 190	37,420 -282	18,303 -136	19,117 -146	5,204 472	2,140 169	3,064 303
2017-18	42,344 -280	36,909 -511	17,753 -550	19,156 39	5,435 231	2,205 65	3,230 166
2018-19	41,067 -1,277	35,511 -1,398	17,024 -729	18,487 -669	5,556 121	2,221 16	3,335 105
2019-20	39,977 -1,090	34,237 -1,274	16,209 -815	18,028 -459	5,740 184	2,223 2	3,517 182
2020-21	38,245 -1,732	32,373 -1,864	15,096 -1,113	17,277 -751	5,872 132	2,234 11	3,638 121
2021-22	39,257 1,012	33,105 732	15,574 478	17,531 254	6,152 280	2,315 81	3,837 199
2022-23	39,420 163	33,367 262	15,638 64	17,729 198	6,053 -99	2,163 -152	3,890 53
2023-24	39,622 202	33,841 474	16,124 486	17,717 -12	5,781 -272	2,094 -69	3,687 -203
2024-25	40,489 867	34,524 683	16,319 195	18,205 488	5,965 184	2,166 72	3,799 112
Average	40,803	35,230	16,835	18,395	5,573	2,165	3,408

Montana Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 35,230. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 4,016 from 38,540 to 34,524.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	38,540	31,178	15,624	15,554	7,362	3,077	4,285
2015-16	37,702	30,584	15,483	15,101	7,118	2,956	4,162
2016-17	37,420	29,917	15,196	14,721	7,503	3,107	4,396
2017-18	36,909	29,260	14,705	14,555	7,649	3,048	4,601
2018-19	35,511	28,249	14,123	14,126	7,262	2,901	4,361
2019-20	34,237	27,197	13,393	13,804	7,040	2,816	4,224
2020-21	32,373	25,944	12,577	13,367	6,429	2,519	3,910
2021-22	33,105	26,236	12,739	13,497	6,869	2,835	4,034
2022-23	33,367	26,555	12,844	13,711	6,812	2,794	4,018
2023-24	33,841	27,185	13,422	13,763	6,656	2,702	3,954
2024-25	34,524	27,724	13,686	14,038	6,800	2,633	4,167
Average	35,230	35,230	13,981	14,203	35,230	2,853	4,192

Montana Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 5,573. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 1,151 from 4,814 to 5,965.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	4,814	2,112	946	1,166	2,702	1,139	1,563
2015-16	4,732	2,077	901	1,176	2,655	1,070	1,585
2016-17	5,204	2,127	905	1,222	3,077	1,235	1,842
2017-18	5,435	2,225	920	1,305	3,210	1,285	1,925
2018-19	5,556	2,195	898	1,297	3,361	1,323	2,038
2019-20	5,740	2,228	885	1,343	3,512	1,338	2,174
2020-21	5,872	2,336	885	1,451	3,536	1,349	2,187
2021-22	6,152	2,516	905	1,611	3,636	1,410	2,226
2022-23	6,053	2,405	828	1,577	3,648	1,335	2,313
2023-24	5,781	2,242	790	1,452	3,539	1,304	2,235
2024-25	5,965	2,238	798	1,440	3,727	1,368	2,359
Average	5,573	5,573	878	1,367	5,573	1,287	2,041

Montana Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 73.67%. The percentage was 77.57% 10 years ago and Montana Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 2.24% of enrolled students is Asian and 1.01% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Montana 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	2,148	630	376	1,481	89	33,629	1,202
2015-16	2,179	624	378	1,581	96	33,012	1,233
2016-17	2,206	689	384	1,715	96	32,801	1,314
2017-18	2,133	681	363	1,790	93	32,734	1,572
2018-19	1,967	681	360	1,730	86	31,522	1,620
2019-20	1,845	899	343	1,810	89	30,829	1,683
2020-21	1,949	962	379	1,849	65	29,486	1,643
2021-22	1,998	994	391	1,994	68	30,053	1,905
2022-23	2,259	930	361	2,156	61	29,707	2,016
2023-24	2,131	833	348	2,182	59	29,640	2,597
2024-25	2,257	907	407	2,445	56	29,830	2,730
Average	2,097	803	372	1,885	78	31,204	1,774

Montana Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

5,334 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 13% of total students. The number of online students has increased 108.85% since 2013.

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

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	44,216	2,554	5,753	35,909
2013-14	44,025	2,735	6,157	35,133
2014-15	43,354	2,698	5,782	34,874
2015-16	42,434	2,656	5,606	34,172
2016-17	42,624	3,004	5,741	33,879
2017-18	42,344	3,616	5,964	32,764
2018-19	41,067	3,372	6,297	31,398
2019-20	39,977	3,551	7,005	29,421
2020-21	38,243	4,458	15,182	18,603
2021-22	39,257	4,440	9,064	25,753
2022-23	39,420	4,655	8,872	25,893
2023-24	39,622	4,310	9,290	26,022
2024-25	40,489	5,334	9,299	25,856
Average	41,313	3,645	7,693	29,975