How many students at WKU? For the academic year 2024-2025, a total of 16,291 students have enrolled in Western Kentucky University with 14,151 undergraduate and 2,140 graduate students.

By gender, 6,146 male and 10,145 female students are attending the school.

It has more students compared to similar colleges (13,360 students on average - public Doctoral / Research University).

3,505 students are enrolled exclusively, and 6,624 students are enrolled in some online courses.

You can check the student demographics by gender ratio, race/ethnicity, age distribution, and online enrollment.


Student Population by Gender

Western Kentucky University has a total of 16,291 enrolled students for the academic year 2024-2025. 14,151 students have enrolled in undergraduate programs and 2,140 students joined graduate programs.

By gender, 6,146 male and 10,145 female students (the male-female ratio is 38:62) are attending the school.

Total Student Enrolled By Gender
TotalUndergraduateGraduate
Total16,29114,1512,140
Men6,1465,431715
Women10,1458,7201,425
Western Kentucky University 2025 Student Population by Gender and Race chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Undergraduate Enrollment by Gender and Race chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Graduate Enrollment by Gender and Race chart

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.

Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Total)
RaceTotalMenWomen
American Indian or Native American412021
Asian549209340
Black1,395557838
Hispanic1,015395620
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders17611
White12,2314,5337,698
Two or more races689266423
Race Unknown20497107
Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Undergraduate)
RaceTotalMenWomen
American Indian or Native American341519
Asian519197322
Black1,189475714
Hispanic925355570
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders15411
White10,5744,0196,555
Two or more races631245386
Race Unknown1788593
Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Graduate)
RaceTotalMenWomen
American Indian or Native American752
Asian301218
Black20682124
Hispanic904050
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders220
White1,6575141,143
Two or more races582137
Race Unknown261214
Western Kentucky University 2025 Student Population by Gender and Race chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Undergraduate Enrollment by Gender and Race chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Graduate Enrollment by Gender and Race chart

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.

Student Age Distribution (Total)
AgeTotalMenWomen
Under 181,8041,175629
18-194,7963,0081,788
20-214,5362,7951,741
22-242,2611,316945
25-291,020632388
30-34583362221
35-39490294196
40-49554376178
50-6422417252
Over 6523158
Student Age Distribution (Undergraduate)
AgeTotalMenWomen
Under 181,8041,175629
18-194,7963,0081,788
20-214,4902,7541,736
22-241,716932784
25-29504291213
30-34276170106
35-3923014090
40-4923617363
50-64836518
Over 6516124
Student Age Distribution (Graduate)
AgeTotalMenWomen
20-2146415
22-24545384161
25-29516341175
30-34307192115
35-39260154106
40-49318203115
50-6414110734
Over 65734
Western Kentucky University 2025 Student Population by Age chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Student Population Age Diversity Pie chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Undergraduate Enrollment by Age chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Undergraduate Enrollment Age Diversity Pie chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Graduate Enrollment by Age chartWestern Kentucky University 2025 Graduate Enrollment Age Diversity Pie chart

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 Student Population
All StudentsEnrolled Exclusively Online CoursesEnrolled in Some Online Courses
All Students16,2913,5056,624
Undergraduate14,1512,0556,410
Graduate2,1401,450214
Online Student Population by Locality
Kentucky ResidentsOther States in U.S.Outside of U.S.
All Students2,72076124
Undergraduate1,68236112
Graduate1,03840012
Western Kentucky University 2025 Online Student Population chart

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.

Transfer-in Students (Undergraduate)
Number of Students
Regular Full-time10,713
Transfer-in Full-time586
Regular Part-time2,723
Transfer-in Part-time129

WKU Enrollment Frequently Asked Questions

For the academic year 2024-2025, 16,291 students are enrolled at WKU.
14,151 undergraduate and 2,140 graduate students are enrolled at WKU.
6,146 male (37.73%) and 10,145 female (62.27%) students are attending WKU.
150 international students (0.92%) are enrolled at WKU, including 86 undergraduate and 64 graduate students.
WKU has a student population that is predominantly White: 12,231 White (75.08%), 1,395 Black (8.56%), and 549 Asian (3.37%) students are enrolled.
1,804 students are under 18 and 23 students are over 65 years old.
3,505 students are enrolled exclusively online, and 6,624 students take some online courses.

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