Enrollment Trends for Tennessee Colleges

Tennessee Colleges Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 244,059 students were enrolled in Tennessee colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population increased by 10% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a increase of 6.71% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 20.61% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more women students than men, with a ratio of 1.49 women to 1 man.
- Women Enrollment: Women students total 145,986 and have increased by 15.51% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Men students total 98,073 and have increased by 1.73% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 44,592 students (18.27%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 137% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 230,264, and 244,059 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 77.81% are undergraduate students and 22.19% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students increased by 11,841, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 8,518.

The women to men ratio is 1.49 to 1, meaning that there are more women students enrolled in Tennessee Colleges than men students.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	222,795	177,353	78,122	99,231	45,442	18,285	27,157
2015-16	223,914 1,119	177,898 545	78,024 -98	99,874 643	46,016 574	18,468 183	27,548 391
2016-17	225,878 1,964	179,082 1,184	78,033 9	101,049 1,175	46,796 780	18,693 225	28,103 555
2017-18	227,183 1,305	179,575 493	77,635 -398	101,940 891	47,608 812	18,743 50	28,865 762
2018-19	227,777 594	179,390 -185	76,660 -975	102,730 790	48,387 779	18,692 -51	29,695 830
2019-20	229,186 1,409	179,397 7	76,029 -631	103,368 638	49,789 1,402	18,821 129	30,968 1,273
2020-21	231,279 2,093	179,392 -5	73,831 -2,198	105,561 2,193	51,887 2,098	19,246 425	32,641 1,673
2021-22	228,193 -3,086	174,965 -4,427	71,722 -2,109	103,243 -2,318	53,228 1,341	19,456 210	33,772 1,131
2022-23	233,976 5,783	181,358 6,393	74,740 3,018	106,618 3,375	52,618 -610	19,680 224	32,938 -834
2023-24	238,665 4,689	185,537 4,179	76,301 1,561	109,236 2,618	53,128 510	19,868 188	33,260 322
2024-25	244,059 5,394	189,250 3,713	77,900 1,599	111,350 2,114	54,809 1,681	20,173 305	34,636 1,376
Average	230,264	180,291	76,272	104,018	49,973	19,102	30,871

Tennessee Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 180,291. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students increased by 11,897 from 177,353 to 189,250.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	177,353	148,885	66,580	82,305	28,468	11,542	16,926
2015-16	177,898	148,825	66,231	82,594	29,073	11,793	17,280
2016-17	179,082	148,657	65,809	82,848	30,425	12,224	18,201
2017-18	179,575	148,920	65,479	83,441	30,655	12,156	18,499
2018-19	179,390	147,901	64,211	83,690	31,489	12,449	19,040
2019-20	179,397	147,087	63,682	83,405	32,310	12,347	19,963
2020-21	179,392	145,185	61,318	83,867	34,207	12,513	21,694
2021-22	174,965	143,085	59,836	83,249	31,880	11,886	19,994
2022-23	181,358	148,357	62,492	85,865	33,001	12,248	20,753
2023-24	185,537	152,035	63,704	88,331	33,502	12,597	20,905
2024-25	189,250	155,667	65,163	90,504	33,583	12,737	20,846
Average	180,291	180,291	64,046	84,554	180,291	12,227	19,464

Tennessee Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 49,973. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 9,367 from 45,442 to 54,809.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	45,442	28,520	12,078	16,442	16,922	6,207	10,715
2015-16	46,016	29,284	12,256	17,028	16,732	6,212	10,520
2016-17	46,796	29,013	12,192	16,821	17,783	6,501	11,282
2017-18	47,608	29,548	12,034	17,514	18,060	6,709	11,351
2018-19	48,387	30,863	12,285	18,578	17,524	6,407	11,117
2019-20	49,789	31,402	12,175	19,227	18,387	6,646	11,741
2020-21	51,887	32,694	12,270	20,424	19,193	6,976	12,217
2021-22	53,228	32,349	12,034	20,315	20,879	7,422	13,457
2022-23	52,618	33,205	12,629	20,576	19,413	7,051	12,362
2023-24	53,128	34,833	13,103	21,730	18,295	6,765	11,530
2024-25	54,809	35,773	13,112	22,661	19,036	7,061	11,975
Average	49,973	49,973	12,379	19,211	49,973	6,723	11,661

Tennessee Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 59.17%. The percentage was 65.75% 10 years ago and Tennessee Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 3.88% of enrolled students is Asian and 17.61% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Tennessee 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	589	5,576	40,492	7,685	195	146,483	6,074
2015-16	597	5,982	40,699	8,439	215	145,900	6,392
2016-17	659	6,390	40,953	9,223	224	146,121	6,389
2017-18	664	6,697	41,662	9,845	210	146,832	6,735
2018-19	699	7,028	40,934	10,535	244	146,789	7,197
2019-20	651	7,374	41,333	11,465	216	146,535	7,548
2020-21	651	7,928	41,487	12,094	219	147,941	7,729
2021-22	637	8,165	39,308	12,977	232	143,978	7,793
2022-23	678	8,473	42,245	14,554	233	141,857	8,318
2023-24	668	8,972	42,636	16,269	267	142,287	9,071
2024-25	673	9,427	42,813	17,735	271	143,868	9,882
Average	651	7,456	41,324	11,893	230	145,326	7,557

Tennessee Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

44,592 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 18% of total students. The number of online students has increased 307.53% since 2013.

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

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	226,788	10,942	39,647	176,199
2013-14	224,829	17,853	36,582	170,394
2014-15	222,795	18,851	40,085	163,859
2015-16	223,914	19,419	45,948	158,547
2016-17	225,878	21,363	50,525	153,990
2017-18	227,183	23,038	52,759	151,386
2018-19	227,777	26,176	61,621	139,980
2019-20	229,186	28,587	57,226	143,373
2020-21	231,406	46,523	84,233	100,650
2021-22	228,193	37,120	74,104	116,969
2022-23	233,976	38,743	74,097	121,136
2023-24	238,665	41,443	79,554	117,668
2024-25	244,059	44,592	75,623	123,844
Average	229,588	28,819	59,385	141,384