Norfolk State University Student Population

How many students at NSU?

For the academic year 2024-2025, Norfolk State University has a total enrollment of 6,053 students, including 5,410 undergraduate and 643 graduate students.

• Gender Breakdown: 1,982 male students (32.7%) and 4,071 female students (67.3%) are attending .
• Race and Ethnicity Breakdown: The two largest race/ethnicity groups are 4,790 Black students (79.1%) and 327 Two or more races students (5.4%).
• Class Level Breakdown: 5,410 undergraduate students (89.4%) and 643 graduate students (10.6%).
• Class Delivery: 693 students are enrolled online exclusively, while 4,753 students take a hybrid mix of online and on-campus courses.

Compared to similar public Master's College and University (medium programs) - which average 4,908 - NSU'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, 1,982 male (32.74%) and 4,071 female (67.26%) students are attending Norfolk State University. The number of male students per 100 females students (male-to-female ratio) is 48.69.

By class level, 5,410 (89.38%) are undergraduate students and 643 (10.62%) are graduate students. Among undergraduates, 32.51% are male and 67.49% are female, while among graduate students, 34.68% are male and 65.32% are female.

• Enrollment Trends

Student Distribution by Race/Ethnicity

By race/ethnicity, 130 White, 4,790 Black, and 21 Asian students out of a total of 6,053 are attending at Norfolk State University. Comprehensive enrollment statistic data by race/ethnicity is shown in the chart below (academic year 2024-2025 data).

Norfolk State University is somewhat diverse with a diversity index of 36.8% measured by Census Bureau Diversity Index. The institution has limited racial and ethnic diversity in its student population.

• Total
• Undergraduate
• Graduate

Student Age Distribution

By age, NSU has 190 students under 18 years old and 13 students over 65 years old. There are 4,905 students under 25 years old, and 1,135 students over 25 years old out of 6,045 total students.

In undergraduate programs, 190 students are younger than 18 and 11 students are older than 65. NSU has 4,755 undergraduate students aged under 25 and 753 students aged 25 and over.

It has 150 graduate students aged under 25 and 382 students aged 25 and over.

*The age distribution is based on 2023-2024 enrollment data.

• 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 Norfolk State University, 693 students are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 4,753 students are enrolled in some online courses.

515 students who live in Virginia or the jurisdiction in which the school is located are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 178 students live in another State or outside of the United States.

• Online Population
• By Locality

Transfer-in Students (Undergraduate)

Among 5,410 enrolled in undergraduate programs, 295 students have transferred-in from other institutions. The percentage of transfer-in students is 5.45%.259 students have transferred in as full-time status and 36 students transferred in as part-time status.