Enrollment Trends for Rhode Island Colleges

There are 13 active four-years colleges and universities in Rhode Island - 2 public and 11 private schools. In the academic year 2022-2023, a total of 62,150 students have enrolled in four-years colleges in Rhode Island including undergraduate and graduate programs. Compared to the population of 10 years ago, the the number of students decreased by 5.93% from 66,068 to 62,150. The undergraduate population decreased by 8.51% and the graduate population increased by 7.57% in last 10 years at Rhode Island Colleges.

By gender, there are 35,703 female students and 26,447 male students enrolled in the schools. The female to male students ratio is 1.35 to 1. The female students decreased by 2.74% and male students decreased by 9.92% in that period.

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Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 65,453, and 62,150 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2022-2023. Of the total students, 81.63% are undergraduate students and 18.37% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 4,721, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 803.

The female to male ratio is 1.35 to 1, meaning that there are more female students enrolled in Rhode Island Colleges than male students.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	66,068	55,454	24,991	30,463	10,614	4,367	6,247
2013-14	65,761 -307	55,557 103	24,984 -7	30,573 110	10,204 -410	4,217 -150	5,987 -260
2014-15	65,946 185	55,899 342	24,933 -51	30,966 393	10,047 -157	4,164 -53	5,883 -104
2015-16	66,097 151	55,777 -122	24,547 -386	31,230 264	10,320 273	4,313 149	6,007 124
2016-17	68,247 2,150	57,395 1,618	24,918 371	32,477 1,247	10,852 532	4,494 181	6,358 351
2017-18	68,008 -239	56,643 -752	24,656 -262	31,987 -490	11,365 513	4,678 184	6,687 329
2018-19	66,329 -1,679	54,855 -1,788	23,951 -705	30,904 -1,083	11,474 109	4,727 49	6,747 60
2019-20	65,302 -1,027	53,876 -979	23,632 -319	30,244 -660	11,426 -48	4,585 -142	6,841 94
2020-21	63,403 -1,899	51,944 -1,932	22,478 -1,154	29,466 -778	11,459 33	4,464 -121	6,995 154
2021-22	62,674 -729	51,142 -802	22,286 -192	28,856 -610	11,532 73	4,487 23	7,045 50
2022-23	62,150 -524	50,733 -409	22,058 -228	28,675 -181	11,417 -115	4,389 -98	7,028 -17
Average	65,453	54,480	23,949	30,531	10,974	4,444	6,530

Rhode Island Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 54,480. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 4,721 from 55,454 to 50,733.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	55,454	49,383	22,402	26,981	6,071	2,589	3,482
2013-14	55,557	49,544	22,452	27,092	6,013	2,532	3,481
2014-15	55,899	49,963	22,484	27,479	5,936	2,449	3,487
2015-16	55,777	49,925	22,174	27,751	5,852	2,373	3,479
2016-17	57,395	50,325	22,165	28,160	7,070	2,753	4,317
2017-18	56,643	49,774	21,977	27,797	6,869	2,679	4,190
2018-19	54,855	48,325	21,451	26,874	6,530	2,500	4,030
2019-20	53,876	47,798	21,342	26,456	6,078	2,290	3,788
2020-21	51,944	45,632	19,993	25,639	6,312	2,485	3,827
2021-22	51,142	45,334	20,027	25,307	5,808	2,259	3,549
2022-23	50,733	44,909	19,783	25,126	5,824	2,275	3,549
Average	54,480	54,480	21,477	26,787	54,480	2,471	3,744

Rhode Island Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 10,974. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 803 from 10,614 to 11,417.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	10,614	6,835	3,009	3,826	3,779	1,358	2,421
2013-14	10,204	6,654	2,910	3,744	3,550	1,307	2,243
2014-15	10,047	6,702	2,967	3,735	3,345	1,197	2,148
2015-16	10,320	6,980	3,074	3,906	3,340	1,239	2,101
2016-17	10,852	7,288	3,195	4,093	3,564	1,299	2,265
2017-18	11,365	7,527	3,286	4,241	3,838	1,392	2,446
2018-19	11,474	7,492	3,241	4,251	3,982	1,486	2,496
2019-20	11,426	7,406	3,130	4,276	4,020	1,455	2,565
2020-21	11,459	7,507	3,141	4,366	3,952	1,323	2,629
2021-22	11,532	7,779	3,212	4,567	3,753	1,275	2,478
2022-23	11,417	7,706	3,107	4,599	3,711	1,282	2,429
Average	10,974	10,974	3,116	4,146	10,974	1,328	2,384

Rhode Island Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 59.52%. The percentage was 61.85% 10 years ago and Rhode Island Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 6.04% of enrolled students is Asian and 6.93% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Rhode Island 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	182	2,577	3,432	4,871	47	40,863	1,329
2013-14	188	2,630	3,491	5,404	47	40,639	1,571
2014-15	215	2,772	3,726	5,812	58	40,948	1,770
2015-16	188	2,873	3,925	6,149	60	41,015	2,097
2016-17	211	3,069	4,193	6,646	107	42,243	2,037
2017-18	215	3,142	4,254	6,890	66	41,530	2,019
2018-19	193	3,152	4,195	7,027	64	39,860	1,970
2019-20	175	3,337	4,165	7,144	58	38,708	1,869
2020-21	163	3,372	4,165	7,289	51	37,850	1,868
2021-22	173	3,593	4,282	7,236	45	38,060	1,954
2022-23	175	3,752	4,307	7,366	43	36,990	2,117
Average	189	3,115	4,012	6,530	59	39,882	1,873

Rhode Island Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

5,064 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2022-2023, which is 8% of total students. The number of online students has increased 403.88% since 2013.

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

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	66,068	1,005	7,563	57,500
2013-14	65,761	937	7,451	57,373
2014-15	65,946	1,015	6,931	58,000
2015-16	66,097	1,322	7,591	57,184
2016-17	68,247	2,127	4,481	61,639
2017-18	68,008	2,787	5,459	59,762
2018-19	66,329	3,096	5,488	57,745
2019-20	65,302	3,386	5,837	56,079
2020-21	63,403	20,394	27,567	15,442
2021-22	62,674	5,895	14,847	41,932
2022-23	62,150	5,064	11,012	46,074
Average	65,453	4,275	9,475	51,703

Most Searched Rhode Island Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

New England Tractor Trailer Training School of Rhode Island Private, Less than 2-years | Pawtucket
Providence College Private, four-years | Providence
Community College of Rhode Island Public, 2-4 years | Warwick
Rhode Island School of Design Private, four-years | Providence
Salve Regina University Private, four-years | Newport
Empire Beauty School-Warwick Private, Less than 2-years | Providence
Lincoln Technical Institute-Lincoln Private, Less than 2-years | Lincoln
Paul Mitchell the School-Rhode Island Private, Less than 2-years | Cranston
Johnson & Wales University-Online Private, four-years | Providence
Ridley-Lowell Business & Technical Institute Private, Less than 2-years | West Warwick

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Graduate

New England Tractor Trailer Training School of Rhode Island Private, Less than 2-years | Pawtucket
Providence College Private, four-years | Providence
Community College of Rhode Island Public, 2-4 years | Warwick
Rhode Island School of Design Private, four-years | Providence
Salve Regina University Private, four-years | Newport
Empire Beauty School-Warwick Private, Less than 2-years | Providence
Lincoln Technical Institute-Lincoln Private, Less than 2-years | Lincoln
Paul Mitchell the School-Rhode Island Private, Less than 2-years | Cranston
Johnson & Wales University-Online Private, four-years | Providence
Ridley-Lowell Business & Technical Institute Private, Less than 2-years | West Warwick

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Online Schools

New England Tractor Trailer Training School of Rhode Island Private, Less than 2-years | Pawtucket
Providence College Private, four-years | Providence
Community College of Rhode Island Public, 2-4 years | Warwick
Rhode Island School of Design Private, four-years | Providence
Salve Regina University Private, four-years | Newport
Empire Beauty School-Warwick Private, Less than 2-years | Providence
Lincoln Technical Institute-Lincoln Private, Less than 2-years | Lincoln
Paul Mitchell the School-Rhode Island Private, Less than 2-years | Cranston
Johnson & Wales University-Online Private, four-years | Providence
Ridley-Lowell Business & Technical Institute Private, Less than 2-years | West Warwick

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Technical Colleges

New England Tractor Trailer Training School of Rhode Island Private, Less than 2-years | Pawtucket
Providence College Private, four-years | Providence
Community College of Rhode Island Public, 2-4 years | Warwick
Rhode Island School of Design Private, four-years | Providence
Salve Regina University Private, four-years | Newport
Empire Beauty School-Warwick Private, Less than 2-years | Providence
Lincoln Technical Institute-Lincoln Private, Less than 2-years | Lincoln
Paul Mitchell the School-Rhode Island Private, Less than 2-years | Cranston
Johnson & Wales University-Online Private, four-years | Providence
Ridley-Lowell Business & Technical Institute Private, Less than 2-years | West Warwick

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