UK attracts record number of black freshmen

By Art Jester - ajester@herald-leader.com

The University of Kentucky has enrolled a record 341 African-American freshman as part of a first-year class of 4,044 students, according to preliminary figures released today.

Undergraduate enrollment is 18,995, and total enrollment is 26,901, compared to 26,625 a year ago. Freshman enrollment was slightly below the all-time high of 4,190 in 2006.

UK Provost Kumble Subbaswamy said one of UK's biggest achievements was a record retention rate of 81 percent, up from 76.4 percent last year. Retention rates measure the number of freshmen who return for their sophomore years.

Subbaswamy said that for UK to achieve Top 20 status, it will have to increase its retention rate to 90 percent or higher.

UK had a record 11,120 undergraduate applications this year, up 4.7 percent from last year. Subbaswamy attributed the increase in applications to more aggressive recruiting.

Graduate enrollment was up slightly at 5,783 students, compared with 5,771 last year.