Black enrollment at Northern Kentucky University held steady and even enjoyed a slight increase despite the implementation of tougher admission standards.

This is in stark contrast to other schools like the University of Kentucky where higher admission standards sparked a plummet of 40% in black enrollment.

UK had raised the minimum ACT score from 19 to 20.

NKU began considering ACT scores for the first time this year, setting a composite ACT score of 19 as the minimum.

Students who didn’t receive a 19 could still be admitted depending on their grade-point-average, class rank, completion of college-prep classes or if they retook the ACT.

Although the number of incoming Black freshman at NKU did fall 14 percent this year, an increasing number of black transfer students accounted for keeping the percentage of total Black enrollment at NKU at 4.8 percent.

This semester, 683 black students are enrolled at NKU which is up from the 678 enrolled last year.

The number of blacks who enter college is not much lower than the number of caucasians.

According to a 2004 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 61.1 percent of black high school graduates enter college within a year of graduation compared to 68.4 percent of whites.

Latino rates are at 61.9 percent while Asians have the highest likelihood at 76 percent.

There is not as much difficulty in enrolling black students as in retaining them.

According to the Education Trust, the majority of black students who enter four year colleges have no degree after six years.