Enrollment Trends for Montana Colleges

There are 14 active four-years colleges and universities in Montana - 9 public and 5 private schools. In the academic year 2022-2023, a total of 39,420 students have enrolled in four-years colleges in Montana including undergraduate and graduate programs. Compared to the population of 10 years ago, the the number of students decreased by 10.85% from 44,216 to 39,420. The undergraduate population decreased by 15.28% and the graduate population increased by 25.32% in last 10 years at Montana Colleges.

By gender, there are 21,619 female students and 17,801 male students enrolled in the schools. The female to male students ratio is 1.21 to 1. The female students decreased by 6.22% and male students decreased by 15.89% in that period.

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Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 41,542, and 39,420 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2022-2023. Of the total students, 84.64% are undergraduate students and 15.36% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 6,019, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 1,223.

The female to male ratio is 1.21 to 1, meaning that there are slightly more female students enrolled in Montana Colleges than male students.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	44,216	39,386	19,101	20,285	4,830	2,063	2,767
2013-14	44,025 -191	39,151 -235	19,123 22	20,028 -257	4,874 44	2,083 20	2,791 24
2014-15	43,354 -671	38,540 -611	18,701 -422	19,839 -189	4,814 -60	2,085 2	2,729 -62
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
Average	41,542	36,155	17,360	18,795	5,387	2,155	3,233

Montana Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 36,155. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 6,019 from 39,386 to 33,367.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	39,386	31,695	15,892	15,803	7,691	3,209	4,482
2013-14	39,151	31,257	15,873	15,384	7,894	3,250	4,644
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
Average	36,155	36,155	14,404	14,511	36,155	2,956	4,283

Montana Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 5,387. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 1,223 from 4,830 to 6,053.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	4,830	2,171	983	1,188	2,659	1,080	1,579
2013-14	4,874	2,077	937	1,140	2,797	1,146	1,651
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
Average	5,387	5,387	908	1,316	5,387	1,246	1,917

Montana Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 75.36%. The percentage was 81.39% 10 years ago and Montana Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 2.36% of enrolled students is Asian and 0.92% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Montana 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	2,422	576	339	1,392	87	35,987	1,075
2013-14	2,118	580	373	1,448	78	35,011	1,192
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
Average	2,111	750	368	1,722	83	32,252	1,496

Montana Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

4,655 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2022-2023, which is 12% of total students. The number of online students has increased 82.26% since 2013.

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

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
Average	41,542	3,431	7,402	30,709

Most Searched Montana Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

Montana State University Billings Public, four-years | Billings
Aaniiih Nakoda College Public, four-years | Harlem
Great Falls College Montana State University Public, 2-4 years | Great Falls
Helena College University of Montana Public, 2-4 years | Helena
Miles Community College Public, 2-4 years | Miles City
Montana State University Public, four-years | Bozeman
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Graduate

Montana State University Billings Public, four-years | Billings
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Helena College University of Montana Public, 2-4 years | Helena
Miles Community College Public, 2-4 years | Miles City
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Online Schools

Montana State University Billings Public, four-years | Billings
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Helena College University of Montana Public, 2-4 years | Helena
Miles Community College Public, 2-4 years | Miles City
Montana State University Public, four-years | Bozeman
Montana State University-Northern Public, four-years | Havre
Salish Kootenai College Public, four-years | Pablo
Montana Bible College Private, four-years | Bozeman
Bold Beauty Academy Private, 2-4 years | Billings

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Technical Colleges

Montana State University Billings Public, four-years | Billings
Aaniiih Nakoda College Public, four-years | Harlem
Great Falls College Montana State University Public, 2-4 years | Great Falls
Helena College University of Montana Public, 2-4 years | Helena
Miles Community College Public, 2-4 years | Miles City
Montana State University Public, four-years | Bozeman
Montana State University-Northern Public, four-years | Havre
Salish Kootenai College Public, four-years | Pablo
Montana Bible College Private, four-years | Bozeman
Bold Beauty Academy Private, 2-4 years | Billings

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