Enrollment Trends for Wisconsin Colleges

Wisconsin Colleges Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 233,981 students were enrolled in Wisconsin colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population decreased by -6% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a decrease of -8.46% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 6.43% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more female students than male, with a ratio of 1.34 female to 1 male.
- Women Enrollment: Female students total 133,920 and have decreased by -4.23% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Male students total 100,061 and have decreased by -8.42% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 32,904 students (14.06%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 68% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 237,595, and 233,981 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 80.69% are undergraduate students and 19.33% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 31,301, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 2,596.

The females per 100 male students ratio is 74.40, meaning that there are far more female students enrolled in Wisconsin Colleges than male students. You can check the males per 100 female students ratio trends over the years for Wisconsin colleges.

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	249,101	209,099	92,987	116,112	40,002	16,274	23,728
2015-16	245,062 -4,039	205,218 -3,881	91,868 -1,119	113,350 -2,762	39,844 -158	16,041 -233	23,803 75
2016-17	240,089 -4,973	200,682 -4,536	89,364 -2,504	111,318 -2,032	39,407 -437	15,808 -233	23,599 -204
2017-18	237,578 -2,511	198,061 -2,621	88,266 -1,098	109,795 -1,523	39,517 110	15,828 20	23,689 90
2018-19	244,497 6,919	205,706 7,645	91,123 2,857	114,583 4,788	38,791 -726	15,447 -381	23,344 -345
2019-20	239,503 -4,994	200,587 -5,119	87,795 -3,328	112,792 -1,791	38,916 125	15,351 -96	23,565 221
2020-21	234,331 -5,172	194,741 -5,846	83,781 -4,014	110,960 -1,832	39,590 674	15,400 49	24,190 625
2021-22	230,264 -4,067	189,393 -5,348	81,548 -2,233	107,845 -3,115	40,871 1,281	15,385 -15	25,486 1,296
2022-23	228,590 -1,674	187,869 -1,524	81,496 -52	106,373 -1,472	40,721 -150	15,124 -261	25,597 111
2023-24	230,544 1,954	189,091 1,222	82,951 1,455	106,140 -233	41,453 732	15,658 534	25,795 198
2024-25	233,981 3,437	191,408 2,317	83,841 890	107,567 1,427	42,573 1,120	16,220 562	26,353 558
Average	237,595	197,441	86,820	110,621	40,153	15,685	24,468

Wisconsin Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 197,441. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 17,691 from 209,099 to 191,408.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Female	Total	Men	Female
2014-15	209,099	166,563	76,475	90,088	42,536	16,512	26,024
2015-16	205,218	163,810	75,440	88,370	41,408	16,428	24,980
2016-17	200,682	160,330	73,495	86,835	40,352	15,869	24,483
2017-18	198,061	157,686	72,077	85,609	40,375	16,189	24,186
2018-19	205,706	161,642	73,507	88,135	44,064	17,616	26,448
2019-20	200,587	159,001	71,411	87,590	41,586	16,384	25,202
2020-21	194,741	152,899	67,561	85,338	41,842	16,220	25,622
2021-22	189,393	149,162	66,100	83,062	40,231	15,448	24,783
2022-23	187,869	146,459	65,404	81,055	41,410	16,092	25,318
2023-24	189,091	146,569	65,753	80,816	42,522	17,198	25,324
2024-25	191,408	147,662	66,353	81,309	43,746	17,488	26,258
Average	197,441	197,441	70,325	85,292	197,441	16,495	25,330

Wisconsin Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 40,153. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 2,571 from 40,002 to 42,573.

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

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Female	Total	Men	Female
2014-15	40,002	22,554	9,966	12,588	17,448	6,308	11,140
2015-16	39,844	22,272	9,652	12,620	17,572	6,389	11,183
2016-17	39,407	22,253	9,579	12,674	17,154	6,229	10,925
2017-18	39,517	22,211	9,444	12,767	17,306	6,384	10,922
2018-19	38,791	22,074	9,230	12,844	16,717	6,217	10,500
2019-20	38,916	22,268	9,108	13,160	16,648	6,243	10,405
2020-21	39,590	23,432	9,225	14,207	16,158	6,175	9,983
2021-22	40,871	24,775	9,477	15,298	16,096	5,908	10,188
2022-23	40,721	24,928	9,490	15,438	15,793	5,634	10,159
2023-24	41,453	25,364	9,733	15,631	16,089	5,925	10,164
2024-25	42,573	25,999	9,936	16,063	16,574	6,284	10,290
Average	40,153	40,153	9,531	13,935	40,153	6,154	10,533

Wisconsin Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 70.90%. The percentage was 76.72% 10 years ago and Wisconsin Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 5.73% of enrolled students is Asian and 5.68% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Wisconsin 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	1,480	8,848	11,230	12,586	252	191,112	6,206
2015-16	1,325	9,199	10,873	13,172	252	187,194	6,728
2016-17	1,286	9,345	10,303	13,759	236	182,493	6,815
2017-18	1,180	9,493	10,139	14,650	227	178,960	7,084
2018-19	1,179	10,249	10,169	16,661	218	181,987	7,462
2019-20	1,130	10,395	10,207	17,488	236	176,012	7,599
2020-21	1,102	10,700	9,949	18,384	191	171,681	7,572
2021-22	979	10,748	10,087	18,825	207	165,780	7,614
2022-23	1,346	11,317	10,224	19,686	193	160,485	8,030
2023-24	1,289	11,859	11,004	20,771	184	157,258	8,441
2024-25	1,407	12,615	12,525	22,169	169	156,229	8,735
Average	1,246	10,433	10,610	17,105	215	173,563	7,481

Wisconsin Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

32,904 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 15% of total students. The number of online students has increased 94.65% since 2013.

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

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	249,986	16,904	26,095	206,987
2013-14	247,860	18,686	27,713	201,461
2014-15	249,101	19,555	29,636	199,910
2015-16	245,062	19,769	32,276	193,017
2016-17	240,089	20,111	33,828	186,150
2017-18	237,578	20,510	36,686	180,382
2018-19	244,497	23,002	42,486	179,009
2019-20	239,503	22,455	44,904	172,144
2020-21	234,339	81,279	107,501	45,559
2021-22	230,264	33,060	74,809	122,395
2022-23	228,590	30,712	68,424	129,454
2023-24	230,544	31,283	69,302	129,959
2024-25	233,981	32,904	68,923	132,154
Average	239,338	28,479	50,968	159,891

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