Kentucky Marks Progress in Increasing Racial Diversity in Higher Education

A new report documents dramatic progress in increasing the enrollments of black students and the hiring of black faculty at state-operated universities and colleges in Kentucky. The Kentucky Plan for Equal Opportunity System Report, 2003-2006, found that blacks make up 8.3 percent of the undergraduate students at state-operated institutions of higher education. This is greater than the black percentage of the state’s population, which stands at 7.3 percent.

The black student retention rate has increased by five percentage points to 76 percent since 2001. Blacks now make up 6.5 percent of all bachelor’s degree recipients, up from 4.4 percent a quarter-century ago.

From 2001 to 2006 the percentage of blacks employed as faculty, administrators, or staff increased from 6.7 percent to 7.9 percent.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.