Does rural Kentucky hate Louisville?

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by censusdata

JT, UK does draw a lot of students from around the state but Lexington then keeps the lion's share of the graduates, something true 'college towns' don't do.

As far as enrollment goes UK is dramatically pulling back from most rural counties while increasing its out of state enrollment.

Source for following info: http://www.uky.edu/IRPE/students/enr...ntbycounty.pdf

Consider some of the following declines

Daviess County down by 102 students (19%) since 2005
Harlan County down 64 students (60%) since 1999
Muhlenberg County down 57 students (58%) since 1999
Pulaski County down 37 students (15%) since 1999

All this while UK's total enrollment increased by 3,000 (12%). Half of that gain was from out of state. This is the same university that accuses U of L of 'over reaching it's mandated mission' because it is picking up enrollment from those areas that UK thinks its too good to enroll from!

Perhaps the UK graduates like Lexington and want to stay?!?! How does a university "keep" its graduates? I would suppose by offering jobs and a nice place to live, perhaps the rest of the state should follow that example.

When I was at UK, my friends were predominantly from all over KY. NKY, Louisville, Bardstown, Paducah, BG, Lexington and a LOT from Eastern KY. UK has really just started drawing students from outside KY, other than OH and IN. Pulling from other states is a good thing. That means the reputation of the university has gotten better; therefore, outsiders have started to take notice. Plus, out of state tuition is significantly higher.

You say that UK doesn't support Eastern KY, yet EKY kids get preference on scholarship applications. A few friends from EKY had virtually identical creditials as friends from Louisville, Lexington... Those EKY students got completely full rides, whereas those from the larger metros got partial scholarships. It was well known at UK, the poorer your home county was, the easier it was to get scholarships.

[JefferyT]

JT, UK does draw a lot of students from around the state but Lexington then keeps the lion's share of the graduates, something true 'college towns' don't do

..thats' probably a good thing for Lexington, that it's able to retain a college educated young-adult demographic. And as has been said, reflects well on Lex as a place to live and make a career.