University of Kansas Overview
University of Kansas is a public institution located in Lawrence, Kansas. The city atmosphere of Lawrence makes it a great place for students who enjoy having lots of educational and entertainment options.
What Is University of Kansas Known For?
- The student loan default rate at KU is 5%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
- Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at KU.
- In 2017-2018, 84% of the faculty were full-time.
- A student who earns a bachelor's degree from KU makes roughly $48,800 a year. This is 20% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
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University of Kansas Rankings
According to our 2021 analysis, KU is ranked #349 out of 2,320 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation. It is also ranked #2 out of 29 schools in Kansas.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
KU has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#30 | Most Popular Online Graduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#109 | Most Popular Online Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at KU.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards KU has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#16 | Best Colleges for Social Work | College Factual |
#24 | Best Colleges for Public Administration & Social Service | College Factual |
#44 | Best Colleges for Communication & Media Studies | College Factual |
#48 | Best Colleges for Communication & Journalism | College Factual |
#83 | Best Colleges for Education | College Factual |
#93 | Best Nursing Schools | Nursing Degree Search |
Where Is University of Kansas?

Contact details for KU are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | Strong Hall, 1450 Jayhawk Blvd, Room 230, Lawrence, KS 66045 |
Phone: | 785-864-2700 |
Website: | https://ku.edu |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/KU |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/KUNews |
How Do I Get Into KU?
You can apply to KU online at: https://admissions.ku.edu
Admission Requirements for KU
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | neither required nor recommended |
High School Transcript | neither required nor recommended |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | neither required nor recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into KU?
Approximately 44% of accepted students are men and 56% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 91%, and the acceptance rate for women is 95%.
Average Test Scores
About 0% of students accepted to KU submitted their SAT scores.KU received ACT scores from 97% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 22 and 29. Math scores were between 22 and 28. Composite scores were between 23 and 28.
Can I Afford University of Kansas?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At KU, approximately 47% of students took out student loans averaging $7,130 a year. That adds up to $28,520 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at KU is 4.6%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
University of Kansas Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 8,094 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 17,333 full-time undergraduates at KU, 48% are male and 52% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of University of Kansas students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 820 |
Black or African American | 710 |
Hispanic or Latino | 1,467 |
White | 12,232 |
International Students | 1,067 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 1,037 |
Geographic Diversity
Kansas students aren't the only ones who study at University of Kansas. At this time, 48 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 106 countries are represented at KU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Saudi Arabia.
Online Learning at University of Kansas
The following chart shows how the online learning population at KU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 2nd most popular in Kansas for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.
Online Growth Rankings of KU
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at University of Kansas was 30.0%. This is the #700 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at KU regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of KU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at KU ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at KU.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
University of Kansas Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Arnhem under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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