To stream WHAS11 on your phone, you need the WHAS11 app.
Next up in 5
Example video title will go here for this video
Next up in 5
Example video title will go here for this video
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — University of Louisville President Dr. Gerry Bradley says the school is responding to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), which has accused the school of offering scholarships that are discriminatory.
In July, the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched an investigation into three UofL scholarships, including one dedicated to undergraduate students who are undocumented or DACA recipients.
Bradley said the university is submitting a written response to the OCR on Friday.
“Just explaining what the scholarships were and what we’ve been doing to change them to be in compliance,” Bradley told WHAS11 in an interview on Thursday. “Those scholarships were paused for this fiscal year, but we’re looking to change them and change the wording of them so that they can still be in the scholarship pool.”
It comes as UofL is celebrating a record year for student enrollment, projecting around 25,000 students for the 2025-26 school year. Thousands of students moved back to campus on Thursday, as classes are set to start Monday.
“I think the unmet financial need scholarship, right? It not only keeps students here when they come here, but it also brings students when they know they have that scholarship,” Bradley said. “I think the second thing is our border benefit program. We’ve been actively targeting bordering states. We want to bring students into the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”
The university has been under pressure to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) from everything from admissions to hiring practices, following the passage of an anti-DEI Kentucky law and directives from the federal government.
Some students even raised the question to WHAS11: Would places like UofL’s Cultural and Equity Center and its LGBTQ+ Center close?
“We did make changes, but the LBGTQ Center did not change,” Bradley said. “It still exists as a center. What we have done is we made sure that these spaces are open to all and all are welcome.”
Bradley started in his new role as university president in the spring.
“As you look at the changes that we’ve done, none of it has impacted the curriculum. It’s all remained the same,” he said.
Over in Lexington, a University of Kentucky spokesperson said the school expects record enrollment this fall, which would be more than 36,000 students. UK will have preliminary numbers in September at its board meeting.