Enrollment Trends at Washington State

The student population at Washington State University is 25,685 (21,455 undergraduate and 4,230 graduate students) . The number of students has decreased by 4,001 (13.48%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at Washington State is 83.53% which is decreased by 3,015 over last 10 years. The graduate student population decreased by 986 and it has been decreasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 84 male students for every 100 female students, down from 94 in 2015.
3,979 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 25.72% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 29,424 where 25,685 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 4 year-over-year increases and 5 decreases. It peaked at 31,607 students in 2020 and was lowest at 25,685 in 2025. Overall, enrollment dropped from 29,686 to 25,685 students, a net loss of 4,001 (13.5%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Washington State University since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	29,686	24,470	11,789	12,681	5,216	2,564	2,652
2016-17	30,142 456	24,904 434	11,902 113	13,002 321	5,238 22	2,550 -14	2,688 36
2017-18	30,614 472	25,277 373	12,023 121	13,254 252	5,337 99	2,609 59	2,728 40
2018-19	31,478 864	26,098 821	12,334 311	13,764 510	5,380 43	2,541 -68	2,839 111
2019-20	31,607 129	26,062 -36	12,171 -163	13,891 127	5,545 165	2,621 80	2,924 85
2020-21	31,159 -448	25,470 -592	11,560 -611	13,910 19	5,689 144	2,655 34	3,034 110
2021-22	29,843 -1,316	24,278 -1,192	11,145 -415	13,133 -777	5,565 -124	2,489 -166	3,076 42
2022-23	27,539 -2,304	22,612 -1,666	10,593 -552	12,019 -1,114	4,927 -638	2,094 -395	2,833 -243
2023-24	26,490 -1,049	21,923 -689	10,277 -316	11,646 -373	4,567 -360	1,906 -188	2,661 -172
2024-25	25,685 -805	21,455 -468	10,005 -272	11,450 -196	4,230 -337	1,709 -197	2,521 -140
Average	29,424	24,255	11,380	12,875	5,169	2,374	2,796

Washington State University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 24,255 where 21,455 students are attending the Undergraduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Washington State University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	24,470	21,384	10,433	10,951	3,086	1,356	1,730
2016-17	24,904	21,652	10,418	11,234	3,252	1,484	1,768
2017-18	25,277	22,166	10,656	11,510	3,111	1,367	1,744
2018-19	26,098	22,877	10,863	12,014	3,221	1,471	1,750
2019-20	26,062	23,092	10,816	12,276	2,970	1,355	1,615
2020-21	25,470	22,315	10,194	12,121	3,155	1,366	1,789
2021-22	24,278	21,272	9,843	11,429	3,006	1,302	1,704
2022-23	22,612	19,812	9,396	10,416	2,800	1,197	1,603
2023-24	21,923	19,321	9,136	10,185	2,602	1,141	1,461
2024-25	21,455	19,015	8,974	10,041	2,440	1,031	1,409
Average	24,255	24,255	10,073	11,218	24,255	1,307	1,657

Washington State University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 5,169 where 4,230 students are attending the Graduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Washington State University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	5,216	3,588	1,728	1,860	1,628	836	792
2016-17	5,238	3,557	1,721	1,836	1,681	829	852
2017-18	5,337	3,685	1,738	1,947	1,652	871	781
2018-19	5,380	3,806	1,772	2,034	1,574	769	805
2019-20	5,545	3,875	1,789	2,086	1,670	832	838
2020-21	5,689	3,661	1,624	2,037	2,028	1,031	997
2021-22	5,565	3,586	1,532	2,054	1,979	957	1,022
2022-23	4,927	3,316	1,336	1,980	1,611	758	853
2023-24	4,567	3,173	1,261	1,912	1,394	645	749
2024-25	4,230	3,008	1,145	1,863	1,222	564	658
Average	5,169	5,169	1,565	1,961	5,169	809	835

Washington State University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 56.41%. The percentage was 60.13% 10 years ago and Washington State still has a high percentage of white students. 7.06% of enrolled students is Asian and 3.08% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 17.08% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 60.13% to 56.41%. Asian enrollment grew from 5.20% to 7.06%. Black student enrollment decreased from 3.14% to 3.08%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 11.76% to 17.08%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.6407 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.6163 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Washington State University over the past 11 years (2015-2025).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2015-16	173	1,544	932	3,490	104	17,850	2,001
2016-17	227	1,706	919	3,827	104	17,430	1,915
2017-18	197	1,799	928	4,016	112	17,696	1,868
2018-19	187	1,932	964	4,334	136	18,330	1,882
2019-20	176	2,026	875	4,528	120	18,514	1,914
2020-21	152	2,045	892	4,650	114	18,443	1,963
2021-22	151	2,097	870	4,349	143	17,821	1,961
2022-23	166	2,010	771	4,113	138	16,190	1,919
2023-24	155	1,876	744	4,191	150	15,364	1,923
2024-25	161	1,814	790	4,386	150	14,488	1,989
Average	175	1,885	869	4,188	127	17,213	1,934

Washington State University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

3,979 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 16% of total students. The number of online students has increased 25.72% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Washington State University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	29,686	3,165	1,784	24,737
2016-17	30,142	3,159	1,933	25,050
2017-18	30,614	3,234	2,577	24,803
2018-19	31,478	3,345	2,937	25,196
2019-20	31,607	3,574	3,018	25,015
2020-21	31,159	29,156	1,683	320
2021-22	29,843	4,690	4,066	21,087
2022-23	27,539	4,255	3,357	19,927
2023-24	26,490	4,130	3,462	18,898
2024-25	25,685	3,979	3,428	18,278
Average	29,424	6,269	2,825	20,331

Most Searched Washington Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

University of Washington-Seattle Campus Public, 4-year | Seattle
Washington State University Public, 4-year | Pullman
Gonzaga University Private, 4-year | Spokane
Whitman College Private, 4-year | Walla Walla
Central Washington University Public, 4-year | Ellensburg
Eastern Washington University Public, 4-year | Cheney
Western Washington University Public, 4-year | Bellingham
Whitworth University Private, 4-year | Spokane
Bellevue College Public, 4-year | Bellevue
University of Puget Sound Private, 4-year | Tacoma

compare schools

Graduate

University of Washington-Seattle Campus Public, 4-year | Seattle
City University of Seattle Private, 4-year | Seattle
Washington State University Public, 4-year | Pullman
Central Washington University Public, 4-year | Ellensburg
Gonzaga University Private, 4-year | Spokane
Western Washington University Public, 4-year | Bellingham
Bastyr University Private, 4-year | Kenmore
Heritage University Private, 4-year | Toppenish
Faith International University Private, 4-year | Tacoma
The Evergreen State College Public, 4-year | Olympia

compare schools

Online Schools

Bates Technical College Public, 4-year | Tacoma
City University of Seattle Private, 4-year | Seattle
Gonzaga University Private, 4-year | Spokane
Washington State University Public, 4-year | Pullman
Antioch University-Seattle Private, 4-year | Seattle
University of Washington-Seattle Campus Public, 4-year | Seattle
Columbia Basin College Public, 4-year | Pasco
Bellingham Technical College Public, 4-year | Bellingham
Eastern Washington University Public, 4-year | Cheney
Clark College Public, 4-year | Vancouver

compare schools

Trade Schools

Pima Medical Institute-Seattle Private, 2-4 year | Seattle
Pima Medical Institute-Renton Private, 2-4 year | Renton
Studio Beauty School Private, Less than 2-year | Spokane Valley
Centralia College Public, 4-year | Centralia
Perry Technical Institute Private, 2-4 year | Yakima
Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute Seattle Private, Less than 2-year | Seattle
Carrington College-Spokane Private, 2-4 year | Spokane
Olympic College Public, 4-year | Bremerton
Divers Institute of Technology Private, Less than 2-year | Seattle
Whatcom Community College Public, 4-year | Bellingham

compare schools

Enrollment Trends at Washington State

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

Ratings & Review