As UofL reaches new heights, 2024 was marked with record-breaking achievements, emphasized by national rankings.
Below are 15 highlights that helped shape the year:
1. Changing the trajectory
UofL is one of the Top 100 public universities in the nation, according to the latest rankings from U.S. News and World Report. Additionally, UofL jumped 16 spots – the largest rise of any school in the country – on the list of America’s Best Colleges. Several undergraduate programs also ranked in the top tiers nationally.
2. A winning streak
UofL’s online programs continue a decade-long run of being named “Best Online Programs” by U.S. News and World Report. In 2024, two online programs rated in the Top 20 nationally, with the online bachelor’s in business and online bachelor’s in psychology coming in at #17 and #11, respectively.
3. Call it a three-peat
UofL earned the Military Friendly® Gold designation for the third year in a row. UofL is one of only 27 R1 research universities in the nation and one of only three ACC schools to earn the designation for leading practices, outcomes and programs for military students.
4. Record-breaking numbers
Fall 2024 total enrollment clocked in at 24,073 Cardinals – the highest total on record. The university’s student body represents a diverse range of backgrounds, with students hailing from 117 counties in Kentucky, 54 U.S. states and territories and 90 countries worldwide.
Cardinals flocked to campus in strong numbers in 2024, with increases in the first-year class, retention, housing and transfer students, as well as a record-setting total enrollment.
- The fall 2024 entering class was 3,125 students, making it the largest incoming class ever.
- More than 3,900 students are living on campus, a 97% occupancy rate.
- The university’s overall retention rate of 81.5% is the highest in recorded history.
5. Making a change
UofL is a top transfer destination for Kentucky students. In two years, UofL’s transfer student total went from 868 to 1,207, a significant 39.1% growth.
And now, more students across Kentucky can easily transfer to UofL and earn their degree with help from an expanded agreement with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Through the new agreement, UofL – who already partners with Jefferson Community and Technical College and Elizabethtown Community and Technical College – is working with all 16 KCTCS schools across the commonwealth to help students complete their general education requirements before they transfer.
The university also is offering scholarships and providing additional financial aid and advising programming to help transfer students hit the ground running when they get to UofL.
6. Turning ideas into reality, improving lives
As a research and innovation powerhouse, UofL’s curious spirit is on full display among faculty, staff and students, revealed in these significant numbers:
- $230 million – Research expenditures, UofL’s highest on record
- $176 million – Competitive funding including grants, contracts and clinical trial agreements – a 14% increase over the previous year
- 499 Clinical trials, a 36% increase over the previous year
- 38 Patents awarded
*Numbers above from fiscal year 2023.
7. Giving trees
Plant power is alive and thriving at UofL, where researchers proved that living in a neighborhood full of trees and shrubs can make you healthier. The groundbreaking Green Heart Project discovered that people living in Louisville neighborhoods where the number of trees and shrubs was more than doubled, showed lower levels of a blood marker of inflammation than those living outside the planted areas. General inflammation is a risk indicator for heart disease and other chronic diseases.
8. First in first-gen
UofL is one of only 14 higher education institutions selected to the inaugural class of FirstGen Forward Network Champions. Network Champions are national leaders in advancing first-generation efforts and contributing to a knowledge base of evidence-based practices, leadership engagement and scaling student supports.
9. Experts in residence
More than 100 UofL researchers are among the top 2% most cited in the world, according to a list compiled by Stanford University and Elsevier. The researchers represent eight UofL schools and colleges. One of those most-cited researchers is Cheri Levinson, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences, who received $11.5 million for research to prevent and treat eating disorders. Among the grants she received is the New Innovator Award, part of NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Levinson is the first from UofL and the first studying eating disorders to receive this award.
10. A watershed session
The state of Kentucky invested more than $450 million in UofL during the 24-25 fiscal year, including a $280 million investment to build the new Health Sciences Simulation Center and Collaboration Hub. The building will benefit all four HSC schools and be the new home of the School of Public Health and Information Sciences. It was the largest amount of funding for a single project in UofL’s history, the largest project being funded in Louisville and represented the most general fund support for any single project among Kentucky’s colleges and universities in the 2024 session.
11. Expanding the reach of cancer care
UofL Health is building a new $25 million regional cancer center and Center for Rural Cancer Education and Research, with a specific emphasis on increasing access to comprehensive cancer care in south, central and western Kentucky. Located at the UofL Health – South Hospital in Bullitt County, the project was made possible with funding support from the Kentucky General Assembly.
12. Raising the bar
It was a banner year for philanthropy with UofL’s annual fundraising drive, Raise Some L, bringing in a record-breaking more than $5.4 million. In all, 2,028 donors supported the effort, with participation from all 50 states.
Meanwhile, raiseRED dance marathon, UofL’s largest student-run philanthropy, boogied its way into the record books with the 2024 event raising their cumulative total over the event’s history to more than $5 million. The funding goes to the Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology and Norton Children’s Cancer Institute to fight childhood cancer.
13. Reaching underserved communities
As UofL continues reaching beyond its campuses, the School of Dentistry expanded its footprint to the Goodwill Opportunity Center at 28th and Broadway. The UofL dental practice is part of Goodwill Industries of Kentucky’s newly built, 120,000 square-foot West Louisville Opportunity Center designed to be a “one-stop shop” for life-changing resources.
UofL Brandeis School of Law also has launched an immigration law clinic housed in the Legal Aid Society building downtown. The clinic serves clients who are authorized to be in the United States and Kentucky but do not have the requisite documentation to prove it.
14. Bringing science to life
Through programs to teach the teachers and alums who are experimenting with outreach, UofL is helping K-12 schools and students discover what makes science special. Eight Jefferson County Public School teachers spent the summer at UofL partnering with UofL faculty for a six-week program on urban-based ecological research. The Research Experience for Teachers Sites in Biological Science grant helps local teachers incorporate environmental issues into K-12 curriculum.
15. Attaining greatness
Cardinal student-athletes have made impressive showings in all sorts of numbers in 2023-24, from service hours to Olympic appearances. These are a few UofL athletic successes by the numbers:
- 4,000 Hours of community service completed through the Cards Care program
- 447 Student-athletes named to ACC Honor Roll
- 23 – Number of home runs by Taylor Roby to set the softball single-season home run record
- 17.45 meters – Length of Jayden Ulrich’s shot put throw to win the ACC title
- 11 – Number of Cardinals who competed at the 2024 Summer Olympic in Paris
- 10 Straight NCA National Championships won by the all-girl cheer squad
- 4 – Number of teams that appeared in the Top 10 during the season (football, volleyball, field hockey and swimming and diving)
- 1 New Men’s Head Basketball Coach, Pat Kelsey
