By Ralph Derickson

The increase in the freshman class is consistent with a record number of applications for UK undergraduate admission.   Applications reached 8,328 during the year, a record since the university implemented selective admissions in 1984.

The freshman class on the Lexington Campus jumped to 2,957 students, an increase of nearly 10 percent over the preceding year, according to preliminary enrollment figures.

The increase in the freshman class is consistent with a record number of applications for UK undergraduate admission.  Applications reached 8,328 during the year, a record since the university implemented selective admissions in 1984.

The quality of the freshman class remained high based on the incoming students' grade point averages and their scores on the American College Test (ACT).  The middle 50 percent of the freshman class had a GPA of 3.2 to 3.8.  The range of the ACT composite score for the same grouping of students is 22-27.   The top 23 percent of the freshman class scored 28 or higher on the ACT.

In the freshman class are 59 National Merit Scholars, three National Achievement Scholars, one National Hispanic Scholar, 98 Governor's Scholars, and 86 high school valedictorians.

UK President Charles T. Wethington Jr. had high praise for the student recruitment efforts that resulted in the positive enrollment outlook, including an outstanding freshman class.  "This represents a lot of good work by a lot of good people," he said.

''Enrollment areas where the university should continue to put major emphasis and effort include increasing the number of part-time students, the number of transfer students, and the quality of the entering freshmen classes," he said.

Lexington Community College enrollment is up 5 percent to 7,150 students, the most since the school became a community college in 1965.

LCC President James Kerley praised the faculty and staff for   "taking the college into the community" during the year and recruiting heavily, particularly in the African-American community, with a resulting increase of 20 percent in first-time African-American students.

African-American students now comprise 10 percent of the Lexington Community College enrollment and 5.5 percent of the Lexington Campus and Medical Center campuses.  The entering freshman class has the largest number of African-American students ever enrolled on the Lexington Campus.

The total estimated enrollment for the Lexington Campus and the Medical Center is 23,816, an increase from the actual enrollment in the fall of 1999 of 23,742.  A significant increase was recorded in the number of full-time undergraduate resident students to 12,862.

Final enrollment figures must be reported to the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education by November.

At UK, undergraduate enrollment increased in the colleges of Agriculture, Business and Economics, Communications and Information Studies, Education and in the Undergraduate Studies program.

Reflecting a national trend, graduate school enrollment was down 36 students.  Graduate School Dean Mike Nietzel said part of the drop could be attributed to a record number of doctorates being granted the preceding year.   He also said the number of part-time graduate students is down, perhaps as a result of a good economy in which there ample jobs are available.

Graduate enrollment was up, however, in the colleges of Agriculture, Allied Health, Architecture, Communications and Information Studies, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, and Medicine.