As colleges and universities around the country prepare to begin a new academic year, Simmons College of Kentucky will welcome its largest freshman class in the HBCU’s history, according to a report from WHAS 11.
For the fall 2025 semester, 210 freshman students are set to begin their undergraduate education at Simmons College, one of two HBCUs in Kentucky. This is a major improvement from recent years. During the fall 2023 semester, the HBCU enrolled just 389 total students.
The enrollment milestone follows several recent campus improvements and academic updates at Simmons, including a newly renovated residence hall, reduced tuition, expanded student services, and new online academic offerings. In addition to advancing its future prospects, the college has also taken recent steps to preserve its institutional history. After nearly five decades at the University of Louisville, the institutional archives of Simmons College were returned to their home campus earlier this year.
Speaking to the significant increase in freshman enrollment, Simmons College’s chief of staff Myra Rock told WHAS 11, “I think it’s a security move. I think they feel more safe and secure at an HBCU, and specifically, more particularly, a private HBCU because we don’t have the restrictions and limitations on the support that we can provide.”
