Enrollment Trends for North Dakota Colleges

There are 16 active four-years colleges and universities in North Dakota - 9 public and 7 private schools. In the academic year 2022-2023, a total of 44,133 students have enrolled in four-years colleges in North Dakota including undergraduate and graduate programs. Compared to the population of 10 years ago, the the number of students decreased by 8.56% from 48,265 to 44,133. The undergraduate population decreased by 12.75% and the graduate population increased by 15.95% in last 10 years at North Dakota Colleges.

By gender, there are 23,533 female students and 20,600 male students enrolled in the schools. The female to male students ratio is 1.14 to 1. The female students decreased by 4.15% and male students decreased by 13.13% in that period.

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Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 46,173, and 44,133 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2022-2023. Of the total students, 81.49% are undergraduate students and 18.51% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 5,256, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 1,124.

The female to male ratio is 1.14 to 1, meaning that there are slightly more female students enrolled in North Dakota Colleges than male students.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	48,265	41,219	20,735	20,484	7,046	2,978	4,068
2013-14	47,872 -393	40,401 -818	20,544 -191	19,857 -627	7,471 425	3,096 118	4,375 307
2014-15	47,206 -666	39,882 -519	20,274 -270	19,608 -249	7,324 -147	3,022 -74	4,302 -73
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
Average	46,173	38,472	19,256	19,216	7,702	3,118	4,584

North Dakota Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 38,472. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 5,256 from 41,219 to 35,963.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	41,219	31,980	16,376	15,604	9,239	4,359	4,880
2013-14	40,401	31,424	16,192	15,232	8,977	4,352	4,625
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
Average	38,472	38,472	14,861	14,464	38,472	4,395	4,752

North Dakota Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 7,702. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 1,124 from 7,046 to 8,170.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	7,046	3,306	1,429	1,877	3,740	1,549	2,191
2013-14	7,471	3,138	1,426	1,712	4,333	1,670	2,663
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
Average	7,702	7,702	1,508	2,129	7,702	1,609	2,455

North Dakota Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 73.89%. The percentage was 77.84% 10 years ago and North Dakota Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 1.71% of enrolled students is Asian and 3.10% 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 (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	2,125	575	1,205	1,084	68	37,568	810
2013-14	2,077	548	1,275	1,177	63	36,726	904
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
Average	1,917	650	1,341	1,532	65	35,369	1,341

North Dakota Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

10,335 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2022-2023, which is 23% of total students. The number of online students has increased 14.19% 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 2023.

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
Average	46,173	9,562	11,912	24,699

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Dickinson State University Public, four-years | Dickinson
Josef's School of Hair, Skin & Body-Grand Forks Private, 2-4 years | Grand Forks
University of Jamestown Private, four-years | Jamestown
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Technical Colleges

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The Hair Academy Private, 2-4 years | Bismarck
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Rasmussen University-North Dakota Private, four-years | Fargo
Dickinson State University Public, four-years | Dickinson
Josef's School of Hair, Skin & Body-Grand Forks Private, 2-4 years | Grand Forks
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