The university also boasts a record high fall-to-fall retention rate of 84.1%, showcasing student satisfaction and success.

“Our enrollment and retention numbers send a clear message – students want to be here at the University of Louisville,” said President Gerry Bradley. “This remarkable growth is a powerful vote of confidence from thousands of students who have weighed their options and chose UofL and Louisville as their home. We’re committed to providing an outstanding education that prepares them for the careers and challenges of tomorrow.”

Enrollment highlights

Preliminary figures show that 3,373 first-time college students enrolled for the fall 2025 semester, a nearly 8% increase from the previous year.

Other highlights of the Class of 2029 include:

• 38.6% are first-generation college students
• Nearly 27% are from other states
• Top five majors are engineering, nursing, biology, education and business

Overall undergraduate enrollment increased by nearly 1,000 students, with notable gains in the Kent School of Social Work and Family Science, the College of Business, the School of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences. Graduate and professional enrollments also rose, particularly in the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.

This year’s student body also includes representation from every Kentucky county, a testament to UofL’s statewide impact and reach.

Expanding student opportunities

Behind these record numbers are intentional efforts to expand access and affordability. The university has invested in targeted recruitment, launched new and innovative academic programs and increased financial aid opportunities. For example, the is one opportunity that makes college more affordable for many out-of-state students. In-state tuition is available to students from Illinois, most of Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and select counties in Tennessee starting next fall.

“I chose UofL because coming here gave me the opportunity to become debt free after college,” said Casey Beck, a third-year College of Business student from Cincinnati, Ohio. “The Border Benefit cut out-of-state tuition in half, and UofL quickly became a top pick in college choices due to the jumpstart on college expenses.”

Final enrollment numbers will be available in November 2025. For more information, visit .

Preliminary figures released today show 3,130 first-year, full- and part-time, baccalaureate degree-seeking incoming students enrolled for the Fall 2023 semester, an increase of 6.8 percent from last year, which also set a record.

The high numbers were again led by increases in Black and Latinx/Hispanic students, along with students from outside Kentucky. Black students total 16.56%, up from 16.27% last year and 13.99% in 2021. Latinx/Hispanic students total 9.97%, up from 8.5% last year and 7% in 2021.

“The entire UofL family and the Louisville community benefits from our steady annual increases in diversity among first-year students,” said Kim Schatzel, president. “We are also pleased to see that more than a third of the first-year class are first-generation college students, the most we’ve ever recorded.”

In addition, UofL has made great strides in encouraging first-year students to enroll in a demanding course load of 15 or more credits in their first semester. 

Preliminary figures show that between 2022-2023, that number increased by 10 percentage points, to 47.6 percent. 

“First-year students who enroll in 15 or more credit hours in their first semester are more likely to progress toward their degree in a timely fashion,” Schatzel said. “They become better at time management, explore more subjects of interest to them and make better social connections.”

The most popular majors among undergraduates are business, engineering, education, nursing, psychology and biology.

Other highlights of the Class of 2027 are:

• 63.46% live on campus
• 50.3% have some college credits
• 35.07% are first-generation college students
• 34.18% are pursuing a STEM+H degree (science, technology, engineering, math, health sciences)
• 26.15% are from outside Kentucky, representing 37 states
• 6.33% identify as multi-racial
• 5.79% are Asian
• Less than 1% are American Indian/Alaskan Native
• 3.62 is the average high school grade-point average, based on a 4.0 scale
• 212 are part-time

For more information, visit .

Interim President Lori Stewart Gonzalez said next year’s budget priorities are both mathematically and strategically balanced and correlate to action plans outlined in the university’s 2019-2022 strategic plan.

“We are investing in the things we value the most – our students, our faculty and staff and our university,” said Gonzalez. “We strove to develop a budget that reflects our values and what our community thinks is important to institutional success.”

The FY 2022-23 proposed budget accounts for a 0.0% tuition rate increase for undergraduate students and the development of a new Cardinal Commitment financial aid program that will supplement other forms of financial aid to help ensure full cost of attendance for resident Pell-eligible students. Commitments to increased student persistence funding and graduate student stipends are also among the financial priorities. The next fiscal year will also see the opening of two new residence halls, the Center for Engaged Learning and the Center for Military-connected Students.

Even with a $110 proposed student fee increase, UofL’s tuition, fees and housing are less than or consistent with such costs at other universities throughout Kentucky. Dan Durbin, executive vice president for finance and administration, noted that $100 of the student fee increase was necessary to help fund the university’s match for the state’s $80 million of asset preservation dollars and ongoing improvement of conditions and safety of classrooms, buildings and infrastructure. An additional $10 will support student programming and the Disability Resource Center. He added that the proposed fee increase was vetted through the Student Government Association.

Compensation and benefits are the investments earmarked for faculty and staff. If the budget is approved, a cost-of-living salary increase of 2.5% will take effect July 1, 2022. The minimum starting wage for regular full-time and part-time staff will also increase to $14.75 per hour with efforts underway to further increase that to $15 per hour by early 2023. The budget also continues the current employer retirement contributions (7.5% automatic, plus 2.5% match) and 100% tuition remission for employees and dependents. Further, employee health insurance premiums will be frozen for the first half of the fiscal year.

Investments in the university itself remain budgetary priorities. Improvements, such as the Digital Transformation Center, web improvement project, deferred maintenance and a new customer relationship management system for Advancement, are among budgetary priorities that will help continue the university’s external image and effectiveness. Fueled by the spirit of the new Here & Beyond brand campaign, investments in the university’s community resources, such as UofL Health and the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, will showcase UofL as a premier metropolitan university.

According to James Begany, vice provost for enrollment management and student success, even in the face of declining enrollment figures nationwide, UofL remains steady in its enrollment performance. Efforts to monitor and prepare for future trends in enrollment continue, and several growth and contingency planning strategies are built into the proposed budget.

Revisions to the proposed operating and capital budgets will be made based on feedback from the university trustees. The board will then formally consider the budget at its June 23 meeting with implementation of the 2022-23 operating and capital budgets to begin July 1.

Durbin emphasized that input from faculty, staff and students was essential to developing the proposed budget. As an example of that buy-in, Durbin noted how he and Interim Provost Gerry Bradley have been meeting with every university dean to assess the financial situation of each of their units. He said these meetings have been productive and feedback has been valuable.

“Engagement and accountability are keys to the positive financial performance of our university,” said Durbin. “This budget is not the work of just a few people. This is a product of our university community’s commitment to success.”

Interim Provost Gerry Bradley addressed the faculty senate with information on student enrollment and departmental budgets. Data collected through last fall semester revealed student enrollment was under projection for both undergraduate and professional students. For this reason, the university entered the spring 2022 semester with roughly $4 million less than anticipated. Although a similar budgetary loss was anticipated for this spring term, strong enrollment and retention rates mitigated this effect, leaving the spring semester budget at a deficit of $1.5 million.

“All in all, we were down about $5.5 million dollars. The budget teams, especially in the units that have been impacted by lower enrollment than expected, have carried a lot of weight trying to work through that. We also made adjustments centrally and allocated discretionary funds to support those units,” Bradley said. “Overall, we are confident we can go forward, finish out the budget year and break even as we do every year.”

Bradley attributed this confidence to an overall increase in first-year student applications and admits for next academic year. All budgets for the next academic year are currently being developed, and increases to employee pay have been identified as an institutional priority.

“As we are developing our budgets now, we certainly want to build in things we know are important. We need to build in a pay increase, and we are committed to that. That is certainly critical for us to recruit and retain our faculty and staff here in this institution, who we know have gone through a trying two years with COVID-19,” Bradley said.

Faculty members Lauren Freeman and Avery Kolers presented senators with the proposal for a new academic program, the . The proposal moved for transition of the current master of arts in interdisciplinary studies-health care ethics, which is housed in graduate school, to the department of philosophy under the rubric of applied philosophy. The 33-credit hour program offered through the College of Arts and Sciences was proposed for implementation during the fall 2022 semester. Senators unanimously approved the proposed academic program.

Committee reports and a of the meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for April 6 via a hybrid format with the option of remote attendance via Teams, or in-person attendance at Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium.

Interim President Lori Gonzalez provided senators with current student enrollment and retention figures. A decline in undergraduate enrollment compared to last year was reported. Gonzalez said that administration anticipated this decrease and despite the current dip in student enrollment, current figures for the fall 2022 term show promise. Figures for the fall 2022 semester include a 6% increase in student applications, 14% increase in admissions and 30% increase in deposits.

Gonzalez further reported an increase in student retention rate of 91% from the fall 2021 to spring 2022 semester, improving upon the 86% student retention rate reported the previous year.

“Our fall to spring retention for first-year students is back to pre-pandemic levels, which is pretty amazing,” Gonzalez said. “Getting back in class and having the right kind of experience, I think, has made a big difference.”

Dan Durbin, executive vice president for finance and administration, and Keith Sherman, executive director and chief operating officer of the , presented information on the university budget and available funding currently offered through the foundation. Durbin provided an overview of the university’s $1.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2022. General or unrestricted funds are used to cover the unrestricted operating expenses incurred by the university; this funding accounts for about 40% of the institution’s total budget.

“Our unrestricted funding is made up of tuition, fees and state appropriations. Tuition and fees are influenced by external and internal factors, so we have very limited latitude when it comes to increasing unrestricted operating funds from tuition and fees,” Durbin said. “Our state appropriation is about $130 million a year; $127 million of that is base, and we have to earn the other $3 million through the Performance Funding model, so that $3 million is always at risk.”

Performance funding is reallocated each year based on each university’s performance relative to other institutions in the state. UofL performed better than the sector average in seven of the 11 performance metrics used to determine state performance funding. Despite a slight increase in 2022, state funding for the university has generally declined over the past decade.

The university’s general fund budget will soon face several significant challenges, including inflation, employee compensation increases and the 2025 demographic cliff projected to impact higher education enrollment and institutional aide nationwide. As neither state allocation nor tuition increases can meet these financial obstacles fully, units have been encouraged to take advantage of the $82 million that is currently available through the University of Louisville Foundation.

Sherman reported the total foundation funding, which includes both endowment and current use funds, is available to each UofL school and college. Senators were also provided with a recommended order of spending for all funding, both restricted and nonrestricted, to reduce general fund spending and maximize UofL’s budgetary efficiency.

“Grant monies typically need to be returned to the grantor if you don’t spend them, so you should spend those funds first. Then go to your restricted endowments and your restricted non-endowed gifts [before spending] your unrestricted money. Your unrestricted money is gold because you can do anything you want with it. We recommend spending unrestricted gifts before your unrestricted endowments because non-endowed gifts don’t grow.” said Sherman.

Committee reports and a of the meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for Feb. 8 and will take place remotely via Microsoft Teams.

Jim Begany, vice provost for Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success, provided updates on current student enrollment and graduation rates. The student graduation rate at UofL has reported steady growth over the past six years, increasing from 52.9% in 2015 to 61.6% in 2021.

“Our graduation rate is the real highlight of this presentation. Last year we eclipsed 60% for the first time in the history of the university, and now we have surpassed it and we’ll continue to improve that number,” Begany said.

Total enrollment for fall 2021 was 21,754 students, a decrease of 227 from last year’s fall semester; these figures reflect the national downward trend in undergraduate enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Enrollment figures nationwide are projected to decline significantly over the next five to 10 years. This is due to falling birthrates and a decrease in the population of high school students known as the demographic cliff.

According to Begany, Kentucky’s estimated drop is around 15-16%, which, he said, will be a significant challenge in our regional markets.

Begany informed senators that the Office of the Provost is exploring possible solutions to address this future obstacle, including the formation of the Demographic 25 Committee. This committee will confront the challenge of the projected 2025 demographic cliff by focusing institutional efforts in six areas: academic quality, institutional aid strategies, retention and graduation, academic programs, recruitment and partnerships.

Senators were also joined by M. Rehan Khan, vice president of Information Technology Services and chief information officer, and Katherine Stevenson, executive director of Enterprise Technology Services. Stevenson informed senators that Information Technology Services will start using , a form of multifactor authentication for Microsoft O365 software. Authorization will be a combination user and device identity, location signaling and if necessary, two-factor user verification.

“When we turn this on, what we’re doing is checking the reputation of the IP address that you’re logging on from and your normal login behavior. If we rank that as a high-risk login, we’re simply not going to allow that login to continue. If you were a medium risk login, you would be prompted to do two-factor verification,” Stevenson said.

Conditional Access for Microsoft O365 systems will provide increased security for the university, as well as improving the security of employees’ data and personal information. Conditional Access will go into effect for all staff and faculty Jan. 10, 2022, and will apply to all applications that utilize the Microsoft Single Sign-On system, such as Outlook and SharePoint.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be found on the . The next Staff Senate meeting will be held on Dec. 13 via Microsoft Teams.

Executive Vice President and University Provost Lori Gonzalez provided senators with updated information on enrollment, endowments and the recent federal COVID-19 mandate. When compared to figures from fall 2020, enrollment is down 48 students. Although institutions nationwide are experiencing a drop in enrollment, the national average is a loss of only 2.3 students. Gonzalez reported that student retention was also down by 4.3%. Senators were informed that student enrollment and retention will be a targeted initiative for the university and administration for the foreseeable future.

Gonzalez also provided senators with information on the current state of the university’s endowment funding.

“So many of our endowments were previously underwater, but this past year they’re all above water,” Gonzalez said. “Our return on investment for our endowments was 33%. This means endowments will go up for the next fiscal year, since they are done on a three-year rolling average.”

A university-wide informed members of the Cardinal community of a recent federal mandate regarding COVID-19 response. The executive order requires all federal contractors and covered contractors to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Due to the numerous federal contracts that the university depends upon for operation, this federal ordnance will apply to UofL.

“The federal government allows medical and religious exemptions; however, the state-approved conscientious objector exemption is not allowed by the federal government. It’s my understanding that Kentucky’s attorney general may be challenging this rule, but we must wait for the outcome of that decision on conscientious objector exemptions,” Gonzalez said.

Executive Vice President of Research & Innovation Kevin Gardner gave a presentation on UofL’s impressive fiscal year 2021 research impact. The presentation highlighted the record-breaking $201.5 million in competitive research funding, which was over $30 million more than the previous record set in FY20. Gardner also featured several UofL research initiatives that addressed the three Grand Challenges of research and innovation outlined in the : empowering our communities, advancing our health and engineering our future economy.

Committee reports and a of the meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for Dec. 1 via a hybrid format with the option of remote attendance via Teams, or in-person attendance at Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium.

President Bendapudi addressed Staff Senators and highlighted recent accomplishments from members of the UofL community. In September, a surgical team with UofL Health – Jewish Hospital performed the world’s first total artificial heart implantation in a female patient, for example.

“In September, the first artificial heart transplant for a man in the United States was performed at Duke University. A week later, the second artificial heart transplant for a man in the United States was here at the University of Louisville. We followed that up by performing the very first artificial heart transplant for a female patient in the world right here at UofL,” Bendapudi said. “I mention that because going forward, I hope I can share these bragging points with our employees because these are genuine, world-wide accomplishments for the university.”

Bendapudi also addressed Staff Senator’s questions and concerns regarding compensation. She said future annual 1% raises for university employees will be contingent on revenue and student enrollment figures. Student enrollment and retention is the largest contributor to revenue for UofL and also affects state funding. Projections estimate that the number of college students in Kentucky will decrease 15% by the year 2025. For this reason, Bendapudi prompted senators and their constituents to reach out and encourage students on campus.

“The best chance we have of our increasing our revenues – the part of the world that we can control and influence – is student enrollment and retention. It is the biggest contributor to revenue and controls where and when we can provide raises,” Bendapudi said. “I believe that everybody who works at UofL should feel confident that every year they will get a raise. To do that, we’ve got to work on our enrollment and retention.”

Vice President of Human Resources Mary Elizabeth Miles informed senators that will be available Oct. 20 through Nov. 3. Employees wishing to make no changes to their plan will not need to take any actions; however, those with a flexible spending account will need to reenroll to retain their balance.

Kari Aikins, director of Total Rewards for UofL, provided senators with additional information on Open Enrollment. Aikens addressed some of the recent changes made to health care plans, including the transition to Optum Health for HRA and FSA administration and moderate increases to vision and dental plans. Senators and their constituents were encouraged to attend one of the four Open Enrollment Benefit Information Sessions offered by Human Resources via Microsoft Teams. Employees who were unable to attend one of the four sessions may view a or reach out to their designated for additional information.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be found on the . The next Staff Senate meeting is Nov. 9 via Microsoft Teams.

Executive Vice President and University Provost Lori Gonzalez provided senators with updated COVID-19 vaccination rates for the university community. As of Oct. 5, 2021, students reported the highest rate of vaccination at 86.1%, followed by 82.7% for staff and 82.1% for faculty at UofL. During the month of October, vaccinated students have the option to enter a drawing for a variety of prizes including priority registration, a blue parking pass, a year of free coffee from the campus Starbucks or a semester of undergraduate tuition.

Gonzalez also addressed enrollment figures. Gonzalez encouraged senators and their constituents to aid in the retention effort by submitting progress reports to identify students in need of academic intervention.

“Last month, I shared that our budget was built on the expectation from the colleges that we would increase our enrollment by 200 students. In fact, we were down 194 students. That means we have 394 less students than our budget was based on,” Gonzalez said. “We are working with the colleges to true up those budgets, but there are some things that can happen at the college level to impact retention from fall to spring semester. The main thing faculty members can do is to complete progress reports for students who aren’t performing well so that we can start academic intervention efforts.”

Executive Vice President of Research & Innovation Kevin Gardner reported that the university received a record breaking $201.5 million in awards during the 2021 fiscal year. Gardner shared additional record-breaking figures from the university’s research, innovation and commercialization efforts.

“Our total award volume in 2020 was $170 million and this year, it was $201.5 million,” Gardner said. “This fiscal year, we’ve had 80 patents issued, $27 million in innovation income and 482 other agreements, such as material transfer agreements.”

Faculty Grievance Officer Cedric Powell provided the to senators. Powell reported that a total of five grievances had been filed from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 1, 2021. Two Type 1 grievances were filed, as well as three Type 2 grievances.

Two grievances were filed from the School of Medicine; however, neither met the jurisdictional requirements for a formal grievance and the complaints were dismissed. Two grievances were filed from the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Business and the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law each had one grievance filed. A Type 2 grievance from A&S, a Type 2 grievance from the College of Business and a Type 1 grievance from the School of Law each went forward with the formal process and appeal with the opinion of the Faculty Grievance committee ultimately being affirmed by either President Bendapudi or Provost Gonzalez.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for Nov. 3 via a hybrid format with the option of remote attendance via Teams, or in-person attendance at Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium.

The graduate programs that saw the largest growth are business administration, human resource and organization development, educational administration, law and nursing. More than 6,450 graduate students are enrolled for fall 2021.

Conversely, following , the preliminary number of first-time undergraduate degree-seeking students enrolled for fall dropped 6% to 2,693.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been life-altering for so many, and we are encouraged that more students are seeking post-graduate-level degrees,” said Neeli Bendapudi, UofL’s president. “It is such a thrill to see a vibrant campus once again, and we are confident of a bright future for all our students.”

For the incoming undergraduate class, the five most popular majors are engineering, business, education, biology and psychology. Enrollment in public health programs for both undergraduate and graduate students also continues to be strong with a 19% increase since 2019.

The incoming undergraduate class remains diverse, with almost 20% of students identifying as African American or multiracial, and 7% as Latino.

Here is a snapshot of the 2021 first-time freshman class:

• 47.6% have some college credits
• 20.24% are African American or identify as multiracial
• 7.06% are Hispanic/Latino
• 64.05% live on campus
• 33.05% are first-generation college students
• 25.64 is the average ACT score
• 3.63 is the average high school grade-point average, based on a 4.0 scale
• 23.72% are from outside Kentucky
• 38 states are represented
• 246 are part-time