LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville is seeing another year of record enrollment. The school announced it has enrolled its “largest first-year incoming class.”

Preliminary numbers released from the school’s Office of Academic Planning and Accountability show 3,130 first-year, full- and part-time students seeking a bachelor’s degrees enrolled for the Fall 2023 semester. UofL says this is a 6.8% increase from 2022, which also set a record.

“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.”

UofL says the jump was led by increases in Black and Latinx/Hispanic students and students from outside Kentucky. Black students total 16.56% up from 16.27% in 2022 and way up from the 13.99% in 2021. Latinx/Hispanic students total 9.97% up from 8.5% in 2022 and 7% in 2021. 

First-year students are also carrying the load, the class load, that is. UofL says more are taking 15 or more credit hours in their first semester. UofL says that’s a jump of 10% from last year.

“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.