FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s public and private college enrollment is at an all-time high, according to data released Monday by the Council on Postsecondary Education.

More than 270,000 students are enrolled in Kentucky colleges, community colleges and universities, a four percent increase over last year. Leading the way in enrollment growth at the public institutions were Eastern Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky, Northern Kentucky University and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

Overall, enrollment is up by 9,465 students, 6,152 of them at KCTCS. Enrollment is up 1,733 at public universities. UK saw an increase of 777 or four percent while Eastern has 404 new students for a nearly three percent increase.

During the past 10 years, enrollment has increased by 40 percent, again led by KCTCS which has 79 percent more students than 10 years ago. Among four-year institutions, Western Kentucky University, NKU and Kentucky State have had the largest growth trends.

“These students have chosen a college education because they see the value that it can bring to their lives, in terms of employability, higher personal wages and personal satisfaction,” said Dr. Robert King, CPE president. “A more educated Kentucky is a key in spurring the Commonwealth’s economic recovery.”

Enrollment has grown dramatically since passage of the 1997 higher education reform legislation which sought to double the number of Kentuckians with postsecondary degrees and separated the community college system from UK.

But state funding has not kept pace during the span of growth and tuition has increased by almost double. That has led to frustrations and complaints from university administrators, students and education advocates. Just last week, UK President Lee Todd announced he will retire at the conclusion of this school year and he expressed frustration over the lack of funding for education and the slower than anticipated progress in making UK a top 20 research institution.

Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell, similarly, has often told lawmakers the universities can’t sustain enrollment growth while offering remedial courses for under-prepared freshmen at the same time state funding has remained more or less flat.

Kentucky’s private college enrollment grew at an even greater rate of five percent, according to CPE.

Total enrollment at UK, the state’s largest institution, is 19,994 this fall, followed by Western with 17,776. Western’s enrollment has increased by more than a third in the past 10 years. The University of Louisville has 15,730 students.

Eastern is next in total enrollment at 14,395, up 2.9 percent over last year and 11.5 percent over the decade. NKU has 13,551 students; Murray State has 8,249 students; Morehead State University has 7,538 students; and KSU has 2,638.

Enrollment actually decreased by 12 students at Morehead and by 36 students at KSU although it’s up by 11.6 percent and 22.2 percent, respectively, over the past 10 years.

Total enrollment at private institutions is 33,624.

Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort, Ky. He may be contacted by email at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.