Western Kentucky University Student Population

How many students at WKU?

For the academic year 2024-2025, Western Kentucky University has a total enrollment of 16,291 students, including 14,151 undergraduate and 2,140 graduate students.

• Gender Breakdown: 6,146 male students (37.7%) and 10,145 female students (62.3%) are attending .
• Race and Ethnicity Breakdown: The two largest race/ethnicity groups are 12,231 White students (75.1%) and 1,395 Black students (8.6%).
• Class Level Breakdown: 14,151 undergraduate students (86.9%) and 2,140 graduate students (13.1%).
• Class Delivery: 3,505 students are enrolled online exclusively, while 6,624 students take a hybrid mix of online and on-campus courses.

Compared to similar public Doctoral / Research University - which average 13,360 - WKU's body is larger.

Explore complete student demographics below, including gender ratio, race and ethnicity, age distribution, and distance learning statistics.

Enrollment by Gender and Class Level

By gender, 6,146 male (37.73%) and 10,145 female (62.27%) students are attending Western Kentucky University. The number of male students per 100 females students (male-to-female ratio) is 60.58.

By class level, 14,151 (86.86%) are undergraduate students and 2,140 (13.14%) are graduate students. Among undergraduates, 38.38% are male and 61.62% are female, while among graduate students, 33.41% are male and 66.59% are female.

• Enrollment Trends

Student Distribution by Race/Ethnicity

By race/ethnicity, 12,231 White, 1,395 Black, and 549 Asian students out of a total of 16,291 are attending at Western Kentucky University. Comprehensive enrollment statistic data by race/ethnicity is shown in the chart below (academic year 2024-2025 data).

Western Kentucky University is somewhat diverse with a diversity index of 42.2% measured by Census Bureau Diversity Index. The institution shows moderate representation of multiple racial and ethnic groups.

• Total
• Undergraduate
• Graduate

Student Age Distribution

By age, WKU has 1,804 students under 18 years old and 23 students over 65 years old. There are 13,397 students under 25 years old, and 2,894 students over 25 years old out of 16,291 total students.

In undergraduate programs, 1,804 students are younger than 18 and 16 students are older than 65. WKU has 12,806 undergraduate students aged under 25 and 1,345 students aged 25 and over.

It has 591 graduate students aged under 25 and 1,549 students aged 25 and over.

• Total
• Undergraduate
• Graduate

Online Student Enrollment

Distance learning, also called online education, is very attractive to students, especially those who want to continue education and work in the field. At Western Kentucky University, 3,505 students are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 6,624 students are enrolled in some online courses.

2,720 students who live in Kentucky or the jurisdiction in which the school is located are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 785 students live in another State or outside of the United States.

• Online Population
• By Locality

Transfer-in Students (Undergraduate)

Among 14,151 enrolled in undergraduate programs, 715 students have transferred-in from other institutions. The percentage of transfer-in students is 5.05%.586 students have transferred in as full-time status and 129 students transferred in as part-time status.