University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto presented a preliminary enrollment report for 2024 at a Board of Trustees meeting, discussing multiple records set.
The UK Board of Trustees held a board meeting on Friday, Sept. 13. The meeting took place at 1:30 p.m. in Harris Ballroom in the student center and lasted until 2 p.m.
“In many ways, it is historic in terms of the numbers of students we are educating, retaining and graduating,” Capilouto said. “All are record numbers, and all reflected an unflinching and unwavering commitment to putting students first at the University of Kentucky.”
The 2024 fall semester saw a record number of 36,161 students enrolled on campus at UK. A 7% increase from 2023, according to Capilouto.
Undergraduate enrollment has also seen record growth with 25,774 undergraduate students on campus, last year there were 23,971 undergraduate students. The 6,571 students in the first-year class for fall 2024 is also record-breaking, a 2% increase from last year, which then had record enrollment.
“More students and families from Kentucky, the region and across the country see the University of Kentucky as a first choice for their education,” Capilouto said.
Graduate enrollment and education has also seen a 5.4% increase from two years ago, according to Capilouto.
Also discussed was the number of underrepresented minorities and first-generation students enrolled into UK in the 2024 fall semester.
Underrepresented minorities refer to students who identify as Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaskan Native, African American, Native Hawaiian or two or more races according to the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. First-generation students are those who are the first in their families to attend college.
Capilouto said about 19% of the first-year students come from underrepresented backgrounds and 26% are first-generation students, another record high compared to previous years.
“These numbers and the patterns of growth you’ve seen over the last several years bear watching for future study,” Capilouto said.
According to Capilouto, enrollment of Black or African American students has decreased “by about 60 (students) based on our preliminary data,” though the number of students enrolled identifying as Hispanic or Latino or two or more races has increased.
Retention rates have also increased, with six-year graduation rates at a record high of 71% and a four-year graduation rate at more than 60%, almost 30% higher than 15 years ago, according to Capilouto.
“That’s a testament to the foundation laid by so many across this campus over so many years, those who came before us and those who labor with us still,” Capilouto said.
UK Invests, an initiative giving UK students personal investment accounts launched in 2023, has also grown over the past year.
More than 20% of first-year students in 2023 opened accounts that earned investments of a million dollars, according to Capilouto. This semester, more than one-third of first-year students have opened accounts.
Capilouto ended the report by talking about two UK students who were the first in their families to attend college, one who had used a scholarship to travel to Austria in the summer and another who received UK engineering’s L. Stanley Pigman Scholarship to attend UK.
“The report before you this afternoon is one chapter in the story we are writing about what we’re doing to honor the vision and the mission to which you’ve asked us to follow,” Capilouto said. “These numbers … reflect that we are Kentucky.”
