Enrollment Trends at Western Carolina

The student population at Western Carolina University is 11,686 (10,112 undergraduate and 1,574 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 1,346 (13.02%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at Western Carolina is 86.53% which is increased by 1,291 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 55 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 69 male students for every 100 female students, down from 77 in 2015.
2,836 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 58.79% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 11,505 where 11,686 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 6 year-over-year increases and 3 decreases. It peaked at 12,243 students in 2021 and was lowest at 10,340 in 2016. Overall, enrollment rose from 10,340 to 11,686 students, a net gain of 1,346 (13%).

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

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	10,340	8,821	3,985	4,836	1,519	510	1,009
2016-17	10,805 465	9,171 350	4,143 158	5,028 192	1,634 115	544 34	1,090 81
2017-18	11,034 229	9,406 235	4,240 97	5,166 138	1,628 -6	505 -39	1,123 33
2018-19	11,639 605	10,027 621	4,542 302	5,485 319	1,612 -16	505	1,107 -16
2019-20	12,167 528	10,469 442	4,717 175	5,752 267	1,698 86	563 58	1,135 28
2020-21	12,243 76	10,517 48	4,683 -34	5,834 82	1,726 28	561 -2	1,165 30
2021-22	11,877 -366	10,145 -372	4,427 -256	5,718 -116	1,732 6	556 -5	1,176 11
2022-23	11,635 -242	9,956 -189	4,275 -152	5,681 -37	1,679 -53	522 -34	1,157 -19
2023-24	11,628 -7	10,009 53	4,243 -32	5,766 85	1,619 -60	493 -29	1,126 -31
2024-25	11,686 58	10,112 103	4,283 40	5,829 63	1,574 -45	486 -7	1,088 -38
Average	11,505	9,863	4,354	5,510	1,642	525	1,118

Western Carolina University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 9,863 where 10,112 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 Western Carolina University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	8,821	7,440	3,417	4,023	1,381	568	813
2016-17	9,171	7,871	3,611	4,260	1,300	532	768
2017-18	9,406	8,040	3,726	4,314	1,366	514	852
2018-19	10,027	8,617	3,985	4,632	1,410	557	853
2019-20	10,469	8,934	4,090	4,844	1,535	627	908
2020-21	10,517	8,760	3,979	4,781	1,757	704	1,053
2021-22	10,145	8,233	3,704	4,529	1,912	723	1,189
2022-23	9,956	8,031	3,526	4,505	1,925	749	1,176
2023-24	10,009	8,200	3,570	4,630	1,809	673	1,136
2024-25	10,112	8,290	3,610	4,680	1,822	673	1,149
Average	9,863	9,863	3,722	4,520	9,863	632	990

Western Carolina University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 1,642 where 1,574 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 Western Carolina University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	1,519	674	204	470	845	306	539
2016-17	1,634	696	216	480	938	328	610
2017-18	1,628	767	227	540	861	278	583
2018-19	1,612	764	239	525	848	266	582
2019-20	1,698	810	258	552	888	305	583
2020-21	1,726	874	276	598	852	285	567
2021-22	1,732	932	286	646	800	270	530
2022-23	1,679	865	249	616	814	273	541
2023-24	1,619	827	238	589	792	255	537
2024-25	1,574	880	262	618	694	224	470
Average	1,642	1,642	246	563	1,642	279	554

Western Carolina University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 75.26%. The percentage was 79.04% 10 years ago and Western Carolina still has a high percentage of white students. 1.28% of enrolled students is Asian and 6.85% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 8.42% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 79.04% to 75.26%. Asian enrollment declined from 1.38% to 1.28%. Black student enrollment increased from 6.39% to 6.85%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 5.55% to 8.42%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.4196 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This increased from 0.3664 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Western Carolina 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	74	143	661	574	12	8,173	384
2016-17	78	135	718	643	14	8,514	411
2017-18	74	127	687	706	9	8,673	420
2018-19	99	129	683	786	7	9,164	449
2019-20	103	132	669	865	4	9,558	439
2020-21	108	160	669	918	7	9,611	409
2021-22	116	158	722	891	10	9,224	387
2022-23	109	148	742	891	15	8,905	407
2023-24	94	148	788	963	14	8,813	441
2024-25	100	149	800	984	9	8,795	512
Average	96	143	714	822	10	8,943	426

Western Carolina University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

2,836 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 24% of total students. The number of online students has increased 58.79% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Western Carolina University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	10,340	1,786	1,358	7,196
2016-17	10,805	1,920	1,204	7,681
2017-18	11,034	1,986	1,385	7,663
2018-19	11,639	2,151	1,954	7,534
2019-20	12,167	2,395	2,605	7,167
2020-21	12,243	3,027	6,876	2,340
2021-22	11,877	2,820	3,568	5,489
2022-23	11,635	2,858	3,482	5,295
2023-24	11,628	2,823	3,030	5,775
2024-25	11,686	2,836	3,047	5,803
Average	11,505	2,460	2,851	6,194

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Enrollment Trends at Western Carolina

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

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