College enrollment in Kentucky up 38,000 from 2010

Full report available at bottom of story.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 7, 2012) — The Council on Postsecondary Education today released its first expanded enrollment report that includes all sectors of postsecondary education operating in Kentucky.

As in previous years, the fall 2011 statewide report includes students enrolled at the state’s public colleges and universities, as well as students attending the member institutions operating under the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU).

New to the fall 2011 report is a category that captures students attending other institutions licensed to operate in Kentucky. This includes students attending proprietary schools, out-of-state institutions with campuses in Kentucky, and online institutions licensed to operate in Kentucky, all of which offer bachelor’s degrees. Students at institutions that confer only associate-level degrees and short-term undergraduate certificates, such as trade schools, are not included.

With the addition of the new category, total headcount enrollment in Kentucky was 305,000, up from 267,000 in the fall of 2010. To put that number in perspective, one in every 11 Kentuckians, age 16 and older, was engaged in some kind of postsecondary study in fall 2011.

Looking at just the public institutions and the AIKCU member institutions (private, not-for-profit colleges and universities), enrollment grew 2 percent over the past year and has grown 32 percent in the past 10 years.

Public institutions continue to enroll the majority of Kentucky’s students, with the public universities enrolling 42 percent of students and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System enrolling 36 percent, according to the report.

AIKCU member institutions enroll the next largest group with 12 percent.

The new category, other licensed institutions, enroll 11 percent. Enrollments in proprietary education have increased significantly in the past several years, and officials project that the growth will continue to expand in the future.

Download the full enrollment report.