Enrollment Trends for North Carolina Colleges

North Carolina Colleges Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 342,139 students were enrolled in North Carolina colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population increased by 4% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a increase of 1.64% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 14.99% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more female students than male, with a ratio of 1.42 female to 1 male.
- Women Enrollment: Female students total 200,923 and have increased by 7.33% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Male students total 141,216 and have increased by 0.70% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 57,965 students (16.94%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 86% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 338,068, and 342,139 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 76.51% are undergraduate students and 23.49% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students increased by 4,229, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 10,483.

The females per 100 male students ratio is 70.28, meaning that there are far more female students enrolled in North Carolina Colleges than male students. You can check the males per 100 female students ratio trends over the years for North Carolina colleges.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	327,443	257,556	109,870	147,686	69,887	30,371	39,516
2015-16	331,051 3,608	260,267 2,711	110,662 792	149,605 1,919	70,784 897	30,837 466	39,947 431
2016-17	334,957 3,906	262,425 2,158	111,406 744	151,019 1,414	72,532 1,748	31,206 369	41,326 1,379
2017-18	337,795 2,838	263,820 1,395	112,214 808	151,606 587	73,975 1,443	31,372 166	42,603 1,277
2018-19	342,323 4,528	267,353 3,533	113,202 988	154,151 2,545	74,970 995	31,478 106	43,492 889
2019-20	344,221 1,898	268,278 925	112,419 -783	155,859 1,708	75,943 973	31,315 -163	44,628 1,136
2020-21	344,879 658	267,138 -1,140	110,839 -1,580	156,299 440	77,741 1,798	31,045 -270	46,696 2,068
2021-22	343,476 -1,403	261,903 -5,235	108,972 -1,867	152,931 -3,368	81,573 3,832	32,156 1,111	49,417 2,721
2022-23	334,369 -9,107	253,741 -8,162	106,091 -2,881	147,650 -5,281	80,628 -945	31,580 -576	49,048 -369
2023-24	336,100 1,731	256,679 2,938	107,644 1,553	149,035 1,385	79,421 -1,207	30,969 -611	48,452 -596
2024-25	342,139 6,039	261,777 5,098	110,122 2,478	151,655 2,620	80,362 941	31,094 125	49,268 816
Average	338,068	261,903	110,313	151,591	76,165	31,220	44,945

North Carolina Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 261,903. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students increased by 4,221 from 257,556 to 261,777.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Female	Total	Men	Female
2014-15	257,556	223,103	97,001	126,102	34,453	12,869	21,584
2015-16	260,267	224,998	97,591	127,407	35,269	13,071	22,198
2016-17	262,425	228,173	98,831	129,342	34,252	12,575	21,677
2017-18	263,820	229,474	99,789	129,685	34,346	12,425	21,921
2018-19	267,353	231,749	100,393	131,356	35,604	12,809	22,795
2019-20	268,278	231,992	99,551	132,441	36,286	12,868	23,418
2020-21	267,138	229,275	97,129	132,146	37,863	13,710	24,153
2021-22	261,903	225,260	95,684	129,576	36,643	13,288	23,355
2022-23	253,741	219,768	93,662	126,106	33,973	12,429	21,544
2023-24	256,679	223,949	95,678	128,271	32,730	11,966	20,764
2024-25	261,777	228,301	97,958	130,343	33,476	12,164	21,312
Average	261,903	261,903	97,570	129,343	261,903	12,743	22,247

North Carolina Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 76,165. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 10,475 from 69,887 to 80,362.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Female	Total	Men	Female
2014-15	69,887	41,068	19,156	21,912	28,819	11,215	17,604
2015-16	70,784	41,740	19,227	22,513	29,044	11,610	17,434
2016-17	72,532	43,594	20,017	23,577	28,938	11,189	17,749
2017-18	73,975	44,118	19,722	24,396	29,857	11,650	18,207
2018-19	74,970	44,713	19,751	24,962	30,257	11,727	18,530
2019-20	75,943	45,298	19,214	26,084	30,645	12,101	18,544
2020-21	77,741	45,657	18,665	26,992	32,084	12,380	19,704
2021-22	81,573	48,527	19,667	28,860	33,046	12,489	20,557
2022-23	80,628	52,810	21,567	31,243	27,818	10,013	17,805
2023-24	79,421	52,987	21,623	31,364	26,434	9,346	17,088
2024-25	80,362	54,050	21,746	32,304	26,312	9,348	16,964
Average	76,165	76,165	20,032	26,746	76,165	11,188	18,199

North Carolina Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 50.90%. The percentage was 57.70% 10 years ago and North Carolina Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 5.45% of enrolled students is Asian and 20.39% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at North Carolina 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	2,595	12,054	71,333	16,054	378	188,947	9,007
2015-16	2,651	12,621	72,109	17,446	411	187,905	10,318
2016-17	2,628	13,188	72,278	18,766	408	188,588	11,033
2017-18	2,650	13,759	71,956	20,381	408	187,799	12,002
2018-19	2,781	14,641	72,513	22,190	338	187,950	12,441
2019-20	2,619	15,065	72,466	24,012	302	187,861	13,121
2020-21	2,604	15,814	72,225	26,091	293	188,279	13,792
2021-22	2,441	16,553	70,040	27,196	299	185,221	13,949
2022-23	2,309	16,953	68,134	27,853	286	176,899	13,871
2023-24	2,313	17,808	68,780	29,698	275	175,281	13,865
2024-25	2,430	18,635	69,748	31,465	279	174,147	14,525
Average	2,547	15,190	71,053	23,741	334	184,443	12,539

North Carolina Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

57,965 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 17% of total students. The number of online students has increased 133.05% since 2013.

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

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	320,822	24,872	40,595	255,355
2013-14	323,205	27,234	43,659	252,312
2014-15	327,443	31,169	47,895	248,379
2015-16	331,051	35,147	52,555	243,349
2016-17	334,957	38,680	57,899	238,378
2017-18	337,795	38,938	62,338	236,519
2018-19	342,323	42,707	66,358	233,258
2019-20	344,221	48,660	68,091	227,470
2020-21	344,757	115,698	160,944	68,115
2021-22	343,476	62,342	120,937	160,197
2022-23	334,369	55,419	108,346	170,604
2023-24	336,100	55,462	109,562	171,076
2024-25	342,139	57,965	114,500	169,674
Average	335,589	48,792	81,052	205,745

Most Searched North Carolina Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

North Carolina State University at Raleigh Public, 4-year | Raleigh
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public, 4-year | Chapel Hill
Duke University Private, 4-year | Durham
Wake Forest University Private, 4-year | Winston-Salem
University of North Carolina at Charlotte Public, 4-year | Charlotte
North Carolina A & T State University Public, 4-year | Greensboro
Appalachian State University Public, 4-year | Boone
Western Carolina University Public, 4-year | Cullowhee
University of North Carolina Wilmington Public, 4-year | Wilmington
Elon University Private, 4-year | Elon

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Graduate

Western Carolina University Public, 4-year | Cullowhee
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public, 4-year | Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Public, 4-year | Greensboro
Wingate University Private, 4-year | Wingate
University of North Carolina Asheville Public, 4-year | Asheville
Appalachian State University Public, 4-year | Boone
Catawba College Private, 4-year | Salisbury
University of North Carolina Wilmington Public, 4-year | Wilmington
University of North Carolina at Charlotte Public, 4-year | Charlotte
Pfeiffer University Private, 4-year | Misenheimer

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Online Schools

High Point University Private, 4-year | High Point
Elizabeth City State University Public, 4-year | Elizabeth City
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Fayetteville State University Public, 4-year | Fayetteville
North Carolina State University at Raleigh Public, 4-year | Raleigh
Western Carolina University Public, 4-year | Cullowhee
Blue Ridge Community College Public, 2-4 year | Flat Rock
University of North Carolina Asheville Public, 4-year | Asheville
Fayetteville Technical Community College Public, 2-4 year | Fayetteville
Haywood Community College Public, 2-4 year | Clyde

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Trade Schools

Martin Community College Public, 2-4 year | Williamston
Pinnacle Institute of Cosmetology Private, Less than 2-year | Mooresville
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Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Public, 2-4 year | Salisbury
Miller-Motte College-Raleigh Private, 2-4 year | Raleigh
Johnston Community College Public, 2-4 year | Smithfield
Aveda Institute-Chapel Hill Private, Less than 2-year | Chapel Hill
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