Enrollment Trends at IWU

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 1,656 where 1,582 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 5 year-over-year increases and 4 decreases. It peaked at 1,842 students in 2016 and was lowest at 1,527 in 2023. Overall, enrollment dropped from 1,842 to 1,582 students, a net loss of 260 (14.1%).

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

• Trends Table
• By Gender Chart
• Downloadable Chart

Year	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	1,842	815	1,027
2016-17	1,771 -71	821 6	950 -77
2017-18	1,649 -122	748 -73	901 -49
2018-19	1,693 44	808 60	885 -16
2019-20	1,629 -64	779 -29	850 -35
2020-21	1,636 7	780 1	856 6
2021-22	1,653 17	816 36	837 -19
2022-23	1,527 -126	783 -33	744 -93
2023-24	1,576 49	816 33	760 16
2024-25	1,582 6	797 -19	785 25
Average	1,656	796	860

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 63.91%. The percentage was 71.01% 10 years ago and IWU still has a high percentage of white students. 5.50% of enrolled students is Asian and 8.34% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 11.69% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 71.01% to 63.91%. Asian enrollment grew from 4.23% to 5.50%. Black student enrollment increased from 4.02% to 8.34%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 6.68% to 11.69%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.5672 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.4872 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

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

• Trends Table
• Interactive Chart
• Downloadable Chart

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
	2015-16	1	78	74	123	1	1,308	49
2016-17	0	77	77	123	1	1,255	45
2017-18	0	94	86	135	1	1,138	33
2018-19	0	93	104	159	0	1,175	45
2019-20	0	107	111	141	1	1,134	39
2020-21	0	111	112	153	1	1,145	61
2021-22	2	110	119	157	1	1,147	53
2022-23	2	109	112	139	2	1,050	33
2023-24	2	89	132	160	1	1,033	30
2024-25	3	87	132	185	1	1,011	44
Average	1	96	106	148	1	1,140	43

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

Illinois Wesleyan University does not offer online degree/certificate programs. All Students have enrolled in on-campus programs.