Enrollment Trends for North Dakota Colleges

North Dakota Colleges Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 45,832 students were enrolled in North Dakota colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population decreased by -3% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a decrease of -5.80% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 12.83% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more women students than men, with a ratio of 1.13 women to 1 man.
- Women Enrollment: Women students total 24,359 and have increased by 1.88% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Men students total 21,473 and have decreased by -7.83% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 11,572 students (25.25%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 24% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 45,611, and 45,832 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 81.97% are undergraduate students and 18.09% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 2,314, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 969.

The women to men ratio is 1.13 to 1, meaning that there are slightly more women students enrolled in North Dakota Colleges than men students.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	47,206	39,882	20,274	19,608	7,324	3,022	4,302
2015-16	46,875 -331	39,609 -273	20,054 -220	19,555 -53	7,266 -58	3,069 47	4,197 -105
2016-17	47,225 350	39,691 82	20,149 95	19,542 -13	7,534 268	3,103 34	4,431 234
2017-18	46,543 -682	38,858 -833	19,601 -548	19,257 -285	7,685 151	3,126 23	4,559 128
2018-19	45,959 -584	38,246 -612	19,193 -408	19,053 -204	7,713 28	3,100 -26	4,613 54
2019-20	45,097 -862	37,274 -972	18,597 -596	18,677 -376	7,823 110	3,112 12	4,711 98
2020-21	44,507 -590	36,299 -975	17,869 -728	18,430 -247	8,208 385	3,223 111	4,985 274
2021-22	44,226 -281	35,748 -551	17,394 -475	18,354 -76	8,478 270	3,276 53	5,202 217
2022-23	44,133 -93	35,963 215	17,408 14	18,555 201	8,170 -308	3,192 -84	4,978 -224
2023-24	44,120 -13	35,948 -15	17,440 32	18,508 -47	8,172 2	3,171 -21	5,001 23
2024-25	45,832 1,712	37,568 1,620	18,232 792	19,336 828	8,264 92	3,241 70	5,023 22
Average	45,611	37,735	18,746	18,989	7,876	3,149	4,727

North Dakota Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 37,735. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 2,314 from 39,882 to 37,568.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	39,882	31,029	15,907	15,122	8,853	4,367	4,486
2015-16	39,609	30,586	15,648	14,938	9,023	4,406	4,617
2016-17	39,691	30,545	15,654	14,891	9,146	4,495	4,651
2017-18	38,858	29,958	15,296	14,662	8,900	4,305	4,595
2018-19	38,246	29,228	14,932	14,296	9,018	4,261	4,757
2019-20	37,274	28,075	14,292	13,783	9,199	4,305	4,894
2020-21	36,299	26,986	13,407	13,579	9,313	4,462	4,851
2021-22	35,748	26,437	12,981	13,456	9,311	4,413	4,898
2022-23	35,963	26,324	12,787	13,537	9,639	4,621	5,018
2023-24	35,948	26,106	12,735	13,371	9,842	4,705	5,137
2024-25	37,568	27,144	13,228	13,916	10,424	5,004	5,420
Average	37,735	37,735	14,261	14,141	37,735	4,486	4,848

North Dakota Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 7,876. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 940 from 7,324 to 8,264.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	7,324	3,427	1,499	1,928	3,897	1,523	2,374
2015-16	7,266	3,558	1,546	2,012	3,708	1,523	2,185
2016-17	7,534	3,725	1,554	2,171	3,809	1,549	2,260
2017-18	7,685	3,789	1,596	2,193	3,896	1,530	2,366
2018-19	7,713	3,888	1,552	2,336	3,825	1,548	2,277
2019-20	7,823	3,832	1,476	2,356	3,991	1,636	2,355
2020-21	8,208	3,776	1,484	2,292	4,432	1,739	2,693
2021-22	8,478	3,827	1,514	2,313	4,651	1,762	2,889
2022-23	8,170	3,743	1,517	2,226	4,427	1,675	2,752
2023-24	8,172	3,934	1,583	2,351	4,238	1,588	2,650
2024-25	8,264	3,949	1,618	2,331	4,315	1,623	2,692
Average	7,876	7,876	1,540	2,228	7,876	1,609	2,499

North Dakota Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 72.48%. The percentage was 77.51% 10 years ago and North Dakota Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 2.03% of enrolled students is Asian and 3.28% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at North Dakota 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	1,878	563	1,324	1,249	69	36,588	1,038
2015-16	1,842	631	1,432	1,416	75	36,327	1,198
2016-17	2,082	670	1,463	1,588	81	36,368	1,287
2017-18	1,817	681	1,368	1,639	72	36,023	1,333
2018-19	1,904	657	1,344	1,716	64	35,216	1,416
2019-20	1,891	670	1,286	1,655	63	34,299	1,603
2020-21	1,769	707	1,305	1,700	50	34,073	1,690
2021-22	1,780	698	1,380	1,806	63	33,261	1,665
2022-23	1,924	753	1,367	1,820	50	32,609	1,811
2023-24	2,122	824	1,267	1,855	69	32,321	1,785
2024-25	2,461	930	1,502	1,850	79	33,221	1,961
Average	1,952	708	1,367	1,663	67	34,573	1,526

North Dakota Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

11,572 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 25% of total students. The number of online students has increased 27.85% since 2013.

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

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	48,265	9,051	7,808	31,406
2013-14	47,872	9,435	9,169	29,268
2014-15	47,206	9,351	9,771	28,084
2015-16	46,875	9,289	9,477	28,109
2016-17	47,225	9,252	11,104	26,869
2017-18	46,543	9,559	11,776	25,208
2018-19	45,959	10,120	12,374	23,465
2019-20	45,097	8,323	11,660	25,114
2020-21	44,507	10,593	17,409	16,505
2021-22	44,226	9,877	15,517	18,832
2022-23	44,133	10,335	14,968	18,830
2023-24	44,120	10,789	15,545	17,786
2024-25	45,832	11,572	16,534	17,726
Average	45,989	9,811	12,547	23,631