Enrollment Trends at Missouri State University-West Plains

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 1,894 where 1,919 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 3 year-over-year increases and 6 decreases. It peaked at 1,961 students in 2016 and was lowest at 1,726 in 2024. Overall, enrollment dropped from 1,961 to 1,919 students, a net loss of 42 (2.1%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Missouri State University-West Plains since 2015.

• Trends Table
• By Gender Chart
• Downloadable Chart

Year	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	1,961	721	1,240
2016-17	1,941 -20	727 6	1,214 -26
2017-18	1,918 -23	692 -35	1,226 12
2018-19	1,869 -49	666 -26	1,203 -23
2019-20	1,951 82	649 -17	1,302 99
2020-21	1,920 -31	639 -10	1,281 -21
2021-22	1,960 40	632 -7	1,328 47
2022-23	1,770 -190	569 -63	1,201 -127
2023-24	1,726 -44	581 12	1,145 -56
2024-25	1,919 193	626 45	1,293 148
Average	1,894	650	1,243

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 85.20%. The percentage was 83.32% 10 years ago and Missouri State University-West Plains still has a high percentage of white students. 2.87% of enrolled students is Asian and 1.93% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 2.87% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students increased from 83.32% to 85.20%. Asian enrollment grew from 0.76% to 2.87%. Black student enrollment decreased from 3.26% to 1.93%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 1.68% to 2.87%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.2712 which indicates that not very diverse. This decreased from 0.3037 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has declined.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Missouri State University-West Plains 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	37	15	64	33	3	1,634	27
2016-17	19	10	67	42	3	1,670	60
2017-18	21	10	70	41	2	1,663	54
2018-19	14	7	62	40	1	1,639	49
2019-20	15	14	53	51	1	1,681	50
2020-21	14	17	38	60	2	1,674	45
2021-22	21	16	32	51	1	1,720	49
2022-23	13	14	29	52	0	1,542	48
2023-24	11	21	32	51	0	1,503	42
2024-25	7	55	37	55	2	1,635	57
Average	17	18	48	48	2	1,636	48