Enrollment Trends for California Colleges

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 1,453,420, and 1,483,838 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 81.11% are undergraduate students and 18.89% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students increased by 225,652, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 31,185.

The women to men ratio is 1.27 to 1, meaning that there are slightly more women students enrolled in California Colleges than men students.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at California Colleges since 2015.

• Trends Table
• By Gender Chart
• By Level Chart
• Downloadable Chart

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
		Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	1,404,000	1,121,468	501,969	619,499	282,532	123,178	159,354
2015-16	1,414,408 10,408	1,129,987 8,519	507,446 5,477	622,541 3,042	284,421 1,889	123,124 -54	161,297 1,943
2016-17	1,432,234 17,826	1,146,198 16,211	513,413 5,967	632,785 10,244	286,036 1,615	121,893 -1,231	164,143 2,846
2017-18	1,454,008 21,774	1,152,423 6,225	513,642 229	638,781 5,996	301,585 15,549	126,259 4,366	175,326 11,183
2018-19	1,462,427 8,419	1,155,517 3,094	511,814 -1,828	643,703 4,922	306,910 5,325	126,255 -4	180,655 5,329
2019-20	1,469,723 7,296	1,159,473 3,956	511,411 -403	648,062 4,359	310,250 3,340	125,717 -538	184,533 3,878
2020-21	1,475,416 5,693	1,152,006 -7,467	501,625 -9,786	650,381 2,319	323,410 13,160	128,796 3,079	194,614 10,081
2021-22	1,486,881 11,465	1,149,730 -2,276	505,220 3,595	644,510 -5,871	337,151 13,741	133,563 4,767	203,588 8,974
2022-23	1,441,360 -45,521	1,114,936 -34,794	487,980 -17,240	626,956 -17,554	326,424 -10,727	128,450 -5,113	197,974 -5,614
2023-24	1,463,320 21,960	1,143,021 28,085	505,453 17,473	637,568 10,612	320,299 -6,125	127,975 -475	192,324 -5,650
2024-25	1,483,838 20,518	1,159,057 16,036	513,118 7,665	645,939 8,371	324,781 4,482	130,626 2,651	194,155 1,831
Average	1,453,420	1,143,983	506,645	637,339	309,436	126,894	182,542

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 1,143,983. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students increased by 37,589 from 1,121,468 to 1,159,057.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at California Colleges since 2015.

• Trends Table
• By Gender Chart
• By Status Chart
• Downloadable Chart

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
		Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	1,121,468	854,266	376,070	478,196	267,202	125,899	141,303
2015-16	1,129,987	856,178	377,856	478,322	273,809	129,590	144,219
2016-17	1,146,198	866,272	381,114	485,158	279,926	132,299	147,627
2017-18	1,152,423	877,136	384,494	492,642	275,287	129,148	146,139
2018-19	1,155,517	880,654	384,053	496,601	274,863	127,761	147,102
2019-20	1,159,473	885,845	385,094	500,751	273,628	126,317	147,311
2020-21	1,152,006	859,338	366,427	492,911	292,668	135,198	157,470
2021-22	1,149,730	859,231	368,433	490,798	290,499	136,787	153,712
2022-23	1,114,936	835,394	359,427	475,967	279,542	128,553	150,989
2023-24	1,143,021	857,856	372,356	485,500	285,165	133,097	152,068
2024-25	1,159,057	874,883	380,787	494,096	284,174	132,331	151,843
Average	1,143,983	1,143,983	376,010	488,267	1,143,983	130,635	149,071

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 309,436. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 42,249 from 282,532 to 324,781.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at California Colleges since 2015.

• Trends Table
• By Gender Chart
• By Status Chart
• Downloadable Chart

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
		Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	282,532	200,767	88,913	111,854	81,765	34,265	47,500
2015-16	284,421	202,050	88,823	113,227	82,371	34,301	48,070
2016-17	286,036	204,203	88,203	116,000	81,833	33,690	48,143
2017-18	301,585	211,212	90,568	120,644	90,373	35,691	54,682
2018-19	306,910	215,066	90,812	124,254	91,844	35,443	56,401
2019-20	310,250	216,996	90,140	126,856	93,254	35,577	57,677
2020-21	323,410	216,470	87,087	129,383	106,940	41,709	65,231
2021-22	337,151	229,907	92,575	137,332	107,244	40,988	66,256
2022-23	326,424	227,766	91,691	136,075	98,658	36,759	61,899
2023-24	320,299	226,121	92,056	134,065	94,178	35,919	58,259
2024-25	324,781	233,568	95,376	138,192	91,213	35,250	55,963
Average	309,436	309,436	90,568	126,171	309,436	36,327	56,371

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 20.44% and the percentage of black students is 5.05% at California Colleges. 14.78% of enrolled students is Asian.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at California Colleges over the past 11 years (2014-2025).

• 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
	2014-15	5,038	222,951	89,962	394,611	6,935	434,602	60,373
2015-16	4,701	224,764	86,615	417,433	6,218	421,121	61,734
2016-17	4,723	226,456	86,346	437,338	6,015	409,444	62,655
2017-18	4,496	228,742	83,989	456,520	6,242	402,812	65,764
2018-19	4,270	230,068	82,047	473,377	6,371	390,094	66,209
2019-20	4,289	230,568	82,445	486,124	6,266	384,393	66,144
2020-21	4,143	238,177	84,938	490,352	6,317	378,776	66,873
2021-22	3,890	239,766	82,575	487,627	5,816	369,401	67,783
2022-23	3,889	240,384	81,259	496,467	5,405	350,232	68,645
2023-24	3,946	242,252	82,980	512,556	5,061	346,046	71,470
2024-25	4,240	245,480	83,877	530,042	4,907	339,405	74,703
Average	4,330	233,601	84,276	471,132	5,959	384,211	66,578

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

306,104 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 18% of total students. The number of online students has increased 100.74% since 2013.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at California Colleges from 2012 to 2025.

• Trends Table
• Interactive Chart