WKU President Timothy Caboni announced in an email Friday that WKU has reached record retention and graduation rates, alongside its lowest enrollment since 2000, for the 2024-25 academic year.

The announcement contained a preliminary analysis of university statistics that will be sent to the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. WKU’s first-to-second year retention was 79.4%, putting the university 0.6% away from its 2028 goal of 80% retention, according to a Nov. 14 press release from WKU News. 

WKU’s retention in the 2023-24 academic year was 78.3%. WKU’s retention rates were ranked third in the state for 2023-24, following the University of Louisville at 81.5% and the University of Kentucky at 86.8%, according to CPE. 

The release also credits the 2018 change of admission criteria for the rising retention. The change required at least a 2.0 high school GPA and summer programs for students below a 2.5, according to the press release.  

“We knew that tightening admissions standards would lead to smaller first-year classes,” John Mark-Francis, interim vice president for enrollment management, stated in the release. “But it also meant we were admitting students who were better prepared for college-level work.”

WKU’s total fall student enrollment sank to 15,920, the lowest since 2000, when it had an enrollment of 15,516 students. From the 2023-24 academic year to the 2024-25 academic year, enrollment has dropped by 371 students.

WKU’s enrollment has seen a consistent decrease since its peak in 2012-13. Enrollment numbers have only increased twice in that time, according to previous reporting by the Herald, falling from 21,110 in 2012-13 to 15,920 in 2024-25. 

New graduate student enrollment is up 25% from fall 2024 and overall graduate student enrollment has increased 8% over the last five years, according to the press release.

“Administrators say that growth reflects the demand for WKU’s flexible, career-oriented master’s and specialist programs, as well as the university’s growing research emphasis,” the release stated.

WKU’s graduation rate increased to 59.1% with 4,688 degrees awarded. WKU awarded 3,373 degrees in academic year 2023-24, trailing UK.

“University officials attribute those gains to consistent collaboration between faculty, staff and academic support teams working to remove barriers to completion,” the release said.