FRANKFORT, Ky. — After years of economic and educational turmoil, Kentucky State University has a new president in Dr. Koffi Akakpo. He will serve as the first permanent president the university's had since July 2021.

What You Need To Know

  • Kentucky State University has appointed its first permanent president since July 2021

  • Dr. Koffi Akakpo will serve as the 19th president and comes from leading the Bluegrass Community and Technical College

  • Akakpo will start his leadership at the HBCU as soon as July 1

  • The new KSU president said his first goal is to get a handle on the university's budget, which has been in turmoil for several years

In two weeks, Akakpo will begin his presidential duties at KSU. He has 16 years of higher education leadership under his belt, with a mindset of putting students first.

“It’s an opportunity that I don’t take lightly,” said Akakpo.

Akakpo’s leadership career began in 2003 at Central State University, a Historically Black College and University in Ohio. In 2007, he was appointed by Ohio’s governor to serve as the department secretary and director of the Department of Natural Resources.

Most recently, he served as the president and chief executive officer of Bluegrass Community and Technical College. Since 2019, he’s added several expanded programs and increased graduation rates.

“The job at BCTC is not completely done, but I’m so proud of the team that we have in place. Coming to KSU, I’m very excited,” said Akakpo.

For Akakpo, being back at an HBCU means following his passion.

He already has several goals ahead of his July 1 start date, including getting a handle on the university’s budget. This March, the state auditor’s office shared 20 findings that highlight financial issues at the university from 2018 to 2021. The findings include more than $3 million in federal grant funds being at risk.

“The very first thing is to look at the budget and address the situation pretty quickly,” he explained.

“The next thing is to work with the campus community to come up with a good internal control system. Strengthening the internal control system will allow us to avoid this problem in the future. Third — build the foundation for enrollment growth. We need a strong enrollment at Kentucky State University,” said Akapo.

The U.S. Department of Education reports KSU has a graduation rate of 33% with 1,700 students. Akakpo says raising that number will require the collaboration of many local and state leaders for added resources to HBCU’s.

“I’m going to engage our elected officials, our community, our business partners, our alumni, our volunteers and people who care for this intuition. I will be on the roads, I will be talking to as many people as I can so together, we can take this intuition to the next level,” said Akakpo.

Kentucky lawmakers passed House Bill 250 last April that sets aside $23 million to help KSU cover the budget shortfalls with another $15 million from the Council on Postsecondary Education. The last action on it was April 2022 when Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed the bill.

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