Written by Doug Goodnough
Did you ever wonder how many living Hillsdale College alumni there are? We wondered, too. Unofficially, we often say “more than 15,000 living alumni” during our presentations to alumni. However, some at the College have said that number is more like 17,000. Recently, in our never-ending quest to pursue the truth, we decided to find out the official number.
The answer: 17,572.
Now, by the time you read this, that number has probably changed, since our database is constantly being updated as we receive death notices and confer degrees to our newest class of graduates. But it’s pretty darn close.
And when we did a deep dive into the numbers, it was interesting to see where our alumni live. Here are our alumni by the numbers:
- Live outside the U.S.: 356
- State with the most alumni: Michigan (5,854)
- The next five states with the most alumni: Ohio (1,608), Florida (848), Illinois (654), Texas (641), California (641)
- State with the fewest alumni: North Dakota (11)
- Alumni living in Washington, D.C.: 112
- State with a surprising number of alumni: Washington (304)
You can see the full map HERE of the breakdown of alumni by state. These numbers are helpful to have as we continue to plan for future alumni events and engagement efforts. We do our best to make the most of the resources the College gives us. Scheduling Alumni National Tour events often depends on having established concentrations of alumni who live nearby and can attend our gatherings. Sorry, North Dakota alums, we probably aren’t coming your way soon. Hawaii, let’s talk. We might be able to make something work, maybe in January or February.
As we continue to add alumni regional chapters, having a sustainable number of alumni in those areas is critical to the launch and continued success of those efforts.
So, what does it mean to you? Probably not much. However, if you’re like me, hopefully it satisfies your curiosity and gives you an appreciation that Hillsdale College alumni are everywhere, including all 50 states and beyond.
If you are moving or planning to move in the very near future, remember to let us know your new address so we can update our records. You can do all that and more HERE. Or just email us at [email protected].
No matter the state, province, territory, or country in which you reside, we are proud to call you Hillsdale College alumni, now more than 17,000 strong!
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in March 2025
