Enrollment Trends for North Carolina Colleges

There are 83 active four-years colleges and universities in North Carolina - 17 public and 66 private schools. In the academic year 2022-2023, a total of 334,369 students have enrolled in four-years colleges in North Carolina including undergraduate and graduate programs. Compared to the population of 10 years ago, the the number of students increased by 4.22% from 320,822 to 334,369. The undergraduate population increased by 0.23% and the graduate population increased by 19.18% in last 10 years at North Carolina Colleges.

By gender, there are 196,698 female students and 137,671 male students enrolled in the schools. The female to male students ratio is 1.43 to 1. The female students increased by 6.31% and male students increased by 1.38% in that period.

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Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 334,958, and 334,369 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2022-2023. Of the total students, 75.90% are undergraduate students and 24.10% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students increased by 773, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 12,977.

The female to male ratio is 1.43 to 1, meaning that there are more female students enrolled in North Carolina Colleges than male students.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	320,822	253,171	108,176	144,995	67,651	27,624	40,027
2013-14	323,205 2,383	253,686 515	108,449 273	145,237 242	69,519 1,868	29,411 1,787	40,108 81
2014-15	327,443 4,238	257,556 3,870	109,870 1,421	147,686 2,449	69,887 368	30,371 960	39,516 -592
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
Average	334,958	260,849	110,209	150,640	74,109	30,763	43,346

North Carolina Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 260,849. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students increased by 570 from 253,171 to 253,741.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	253,171	219,762	95,852	123,910	33,409	12,324	21,085
2013-14	253,686	220,167	95,883	124,284	33,519	12,566	20,953
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
Average	260,849	260,849	97,397	128,396	260,849	12,812	22,244

North Carolina Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 74,109. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 12,977 from 67,651 to 80,628.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	67,651	38,181	17,148	21,033	29,470	10,476	18,994
2013-14	69,519	40,695	18,384	22,311	28,824	11,027	17,797
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
Average	74,109	74,109	19,320	24,898	74,109	11,443	18,448

North Carolina Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 52.87%. The percentage was 58.57% 10 years ago and North Carolina Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 5.07% of enrolled students is Asian and 20.36% 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 (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	2,651	11,134	72,095	13,019	294	187,899	6,481
2013-14	2,692	11,473	70,801	14,401	358	188,971	7,750
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
Average	2,602	13,932	71,450	20,674	343	186,938	11,251

North Carolina Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

55,419 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2022-2023, which is 17% of total students. The number of online students has increased 122.82% 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 2023.

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
Average	334,947	47,351	75,420	212,176

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