Many students coming to the University of Louisville for the first time this fall won鈥檛 be known as freshmen because they鈥檝e already earned enough credits to be classified as sophomores or juniors.
Of the 2,825 incoming students who have enrolled thus far, 149 are sophomores and another 22 are juniors. Executive director of admissions Jenny Sawyer said that鈥檚 a new record for UofL but she鈥檚 not surprised.
鈥淔or the past few years, more than half of our incoming students have college credit before they get here,鈥 Sawyer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a national trend and due, in part, to the success of high schools and universities working together to boost college readiness.鈥
Sawyer said 30 credit hours is a general guideline for sophomore status and the university鈥檚 early college programs and partnerships with schools in Bullitt, Oldham and Jefferson counties are having a positive impact.
University officials also reported that incoming students had an average ACT score of 25.5, the highest in the institution鈥檚 history and well above the national average of 21.
鈥淭here is no doubt we are attracting the most academically gifted students in our history,鈥 said UofL President James Ramsey. 鈥淲hen we look at parameters such as ACT scores, high school grade point averages, early college credit and graduation rates, it鈥檚 obvious that we are on the right track.鈥
Here鈥檚 a snapshot of the 2015 incoming class:
路聽聽聽聽聽聽 55 percent have some college credit
路聽聽聽聽聽聽 149 will enter as sophomores
路聽聽聽聽聽聽 22 will enter as juniors
路聽聽聽聽聽聽 82 percent are Kentucky residents
路聽聽聽聽聽聽 37 percent are from Jefferson County
路聽聽聽聽聽聽 23 percent are students of color (slightly more than half of those are African American)
路聽聽聽聽聽聽 37 U.S. states and territories, other than Kentucky, are represented
First year students start moving into residence halls Aug.19 and classes begin the following Monday.
