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University of Kentucky

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University of Kentucky Overview

Located in Lexington, Kentucky, University of Kentucky is a public institution. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.

What Is University of Kentucky Known For?

5,871 Undergraduate Awards
$37,642 Avg Cost After Aid
96% Acceptance Rate
  • The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at UK.
  • For the 2017-2018 academic year, 85% of the faculty were full-time.
  • A student who earns a bachelor's degree from UK makes roughly $45,100 a year. This is 11% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.

Best Schools

University of Kentucky Rankings

UK is ranked #3 out of 45 schools in Kentucky.

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at UK.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#1 Best Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Value Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#2 Best Geography & Cartography Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#9 Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#13 Best Value Geography & Cartography Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#13 Most Popular Foreign Languages & Linguistics Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Most Popular Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#38 Most Popular Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#53 Most Popular Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#68 Most Popular Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards UK has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#1 Best Physics and Astronomy Schools College Factual
#1 Best Physics and Astronomy Schools College Factual
#1 Best Architectural Design Schools College Factual
#1 Best Horse Husbandry/Equine Science & Management Bachelor’s Degree Schools College Factual
#146 Best Allied Health Professions Schools College Factual
#257 Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools College Factual

Where Is University of Kentucky?

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Contact details for UK are given below.

Contact Details
Address: South Limestone, Lexington, KY 40506-0032
Phone: 859-257-9000
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/universityofky
Twitter: http://twitter.com/universityofky

How Do I Get Into UK?

You can apply to UK online at: www.uky.edu/admission/apply-uk

Admission Requirements for UK

Submission Required?
High School GPA required
High School Rank recommended
High School Transcript required
College Prep Program required
Recommendations neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores required
TOEFL required

How Hard Is It To Get Into UK?

96% Acceptance Rate
60% Of Accepted Are Women
23% Submit SAT Scores
Since UK has an acceptance rate of 96%, it is not too hard to gain acceptance into the school. Still, you need to be sure you complete your application in full and send in any other requested documents.

Approximately 40% of accepted students are men and 60% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 95%, and the acceptance rate for women is 97%.

Average Test Scores

About 23% of students accepted to UK submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 540 and 640. Math scores were between 530 and 640.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for University of Kentucky  ( 540 to 640 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for University of Kentucky  ( 530 to 640 )
200
800
UK received ACT scores from 88% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 22 and 31. Math scores were between 21 and 28. Composite scores were between 22 and 29.

ACT English Scores for University of Kentucky  ( 22 to 31 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for University of Kentucky  ( 21 to 28 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for University of Kentucky  ( 22 to 29 )
1
36

Can I Afford University of Kentucky?

$37,642 Net Price
47% Take Out Loans
5.8% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of UK is $37,642. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

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 UK, approximately 47% of students took out student loans averaging $9,087 a year. That adds up to $36,348 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at UK is 5.8%. 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 Kentucky Undergraduate Student Diversity

20,239 Full-Time Undergraduates
57% Women
20% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 22,227 undergraduate students at UK, with 20,239 being full-time and 1,988 being part-time.

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There are also 7,759 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 20,239 full-time undergraduates at UK, 43% are male and 57% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of University of Kentucky students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 630
Black or African American 1,404
Hispanic or Latino 1,138
White 15,157
International Students 504
Other Races/Ethnicities 1,406

Geographic Diversity

Kentucky students aren't the only ones who study at University of Kentucky. At this time, 46 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 105 countries are represented at UK. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.

Online Learning at University of Kentucky

4,976 Took All Classes Online
25,082 Took At Least One Class Online
46.7% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
In 2019-2020, 25,082 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at UK has changed over the last few years.

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This school is the 14th most popular in Kentucky for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of UK

The following table shows how UK is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Applied Statistics #2 #2
Historic Preservation #4 #4
Arts & Media Management #7 #4
Manufacturing Engineering #10 #4
Textile & Apparel Studies #10 #10
Public Policy #11 #10
Geography & Cartography #19 #16
Statistics #22 #16
Educational Assessment #30 #47
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science #43 #37
Visual & Performing Arts #46 #46
Information Science #47 #68
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions #49 #49
Mathematics & Statistics #64 #64
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences #70 #76

Online Growth Rankings of UK

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at University of Kentucky was 46.7%. This is the #693 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at UK regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of UK majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major 1-Year Growth Rate
Education 5%
Educational Administration 23%
Educational Assessment 20%
Geography & Cartography 37%
Health Professions 7%
Instructional Media Design 73%
Manufacturing Engineering 78%
Mathematics & Statistics 24%
Nursing 5%
Public Policy 21%
Social Sciences 9%
Visual & Performing Arts 12%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at UK 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 UK.

Major Growth Rate Rank
Applied Statistics #1
Arts & Media Management #4
Public Policy #4
Educational Assessment #7
Mathematics & Statistics #13
Manufacturing Engineering #16
Library & Information Science #22
Library Science #22
Geography & Cartography #27
Visual & Performing Arts #31
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions #34
Mental & Social Health Services #50
Engineering #64
Instructional Media Design #95
Social Sciences #110
Public Administration & Social Service #117
Educational Administration #124
Nursing #241
Education #376

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 Kentucky Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Basic Certificate Bachelor’s Graduate Certificate Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
General Business/Commerce 0 320 0 121 6 447
Nursing 0 298 14 0 69 381
Marketing 0 329 0 0 0 329
Teacher Education Subject Specific 0 282 2 4 0 288
General Biology 0 241 0 39 4 284
General Psychology 0 268 0 0 0 268
Finance & Financial Management 0 266 0 0 0 266
Communication & Media Studies 0 236 2 16 9 263
Accounting 0 193 0 41 0 234
Mechanical Engineering 0 173 0 14 9 196
Social Work 0 59 9 122 4 194
Teacher Education Grade Specific 0 139 3 39 0 181
Public Relations & Advertising 14 153 1 0 0 168
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 0 0 0 16 146 162
Computer Information Systems 0 113 0 21 13 147
Political Science & Government 0 130 0 6 1 137
Medicine 0 0 0 0 136 136
Public Health 0 74 6 37 9 126
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 0 0 3 41 80 124
Health Sciences & Services 22 86 4 0 0 112
Chemical Engineering 0 96 0 4 10 110
General English Literature 0 92 0 3 13 108
Law 0 0 0 0 108 108
Civil Engineering 0 75 0 23 4 102
Health & Medical Administrative Services 9 50 20 19 0 98
Economics 0 75 0 10 11 96
Liberal Arts General Studies 0 87 0 0 0 87
Business/Managerial Economics 0 84 0 0 0 84
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 0 80 0 0 3 83
Communication Sciences 0 53 0 28 0 81
Agricultural Production 0 80 0 0 0 80
Animal Science 0 60 0 10 8 78
Mathematics 0 54 0 12 11 77
Natural Resources Conservation 0 70 6 0 0 76
Library & Information Science 0 0 0 73 0 73
Dentistry 0 0 0 0 72 72
History 0 66 0 3 3 72
Food, Nutrition & Related Services 4 57 0 10 0 71
Applied Mathematics 0 16 0 55 0 71
Educational Administration 4 0 29 32 5 70
Allied Health Professions 0 0 1 67 0 68
Music 0 26 0 22 17 65
Chemistry 0 47 0 5 10 62
Information Science 0 61 0 0 0 61
Textile & Apparel Studies 0 54 0 7 0 61
Electrical Engineering 0 43 1 9 7 60
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 0 0 0 43 13 56
Physics and Astronomy 0 12 0 37 5 54
Journalism 0 53 0 0 0 53
Computer Engineering 0 53 0 0 0 53
Agricultural Economics & Business 0 42 0 5 5 52
Arts & Media Management 0 26 0 23 0 49
General Visual & Performing Arts 0 49 0 0 0 49
International Studies 6 42 0 0 0 48
General Architecture 0 36 0 11 0 47
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 0 37 0 10 0 47
Industrial Engineering 39 0 5 0 0 44
Romance Languages 0 26 0 13 3 42
Mental & Social Health Services 0 0 42 0 0 42
Interdisciplinary Studies 8 34 0 0 0 42
Geography & Cartography 0 11 16 11 3 41
Anthropology 0 24 0 11 5 40
Sociology 0 35 1 3 1 40
Agricultural Public Services 0 39 0 0 0 39
Health & Physical Education 0 0 4 31 4 39
Biotechnology 0 38 0 0 0 38
General Family & Consumer Sciences 0 37 0 0 0 37
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 0 36 0 0 0 36
Educational Assessment 0 0 14 0 21 35
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 0 34 0 0 0 34
Special Education 0 22 4 6 1 33
Fine & Studio Arts 0 31 0 1 0 32
Agricultural Engineering 0 24 0 5 1 30
Food Science Technology 25 4 0 0 0 29
Statistics 0 0 0 19 9 28
Public Administration 0 0 0 24 4 28
Other Agriculture 0 27 0 0 0 27
Mining Engineering 0 18 0 4 4 26
Drama & Theater Arts 3 22 0 0 0 25
Plant Sciences 0 6 0 12 6 24
Geological & Earth Sciences 0 11 0 10 3 24
Public Policy 0 0 16 8 0 24
Industrial Production Technology 23 0 0 0 0 23
Forestry 0 14 0 9 0 23
Design & Applied Arts 0 23 0 0 0 23
Philosophy 0 13 0 5 4 22
International Relations & National Security 0 0 0 22 0 22
Materials Engineering 0 15 0 0 5 20
Hospitality Management 0 19 0 0 0 19
International Business 19 0 0 0 0 19
Writing Studies 0 9 0 10 0 19
Ethnic Studies 0 8 8 0 3 19
Applied Statistics 0 0 11 7 0 18
Historic Preservation 0 0 15 3 0 18
Landscape Architecture 0 15 0 0 0 15
Instructional Media Design 0 0 5 10 0 15
Environmental Control Technology 15 0 0 0 0 15
Multilingual Education 0 0 12 0 0 12
Human Development & Family Studies 0 0 0 8 4 12
General Social Sciences 12 0 0 0 0 12
Teaching English or French 0 0 1 9 0 10
Zoology 0 0 0 5 4 9
Manufacturing Engineering 0 0 1 8 0 9
Area Studies 3 1 5 0 0 9
Medical Science 0 0 7 0 2 9
Pharmacology & Toxicology 0 0 0 2 6 8
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 8 0 0 0 0 8
Biomedical Engineering 0 0 0 3 5 8
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 0 0 0 8 0 8
Gerontology 0 0 7 0 1 8
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 5 3 0 0 0 8
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution 8 0 0 0 0 8
Child Development & Psychology 0 0 0 2 5 7
Classical Languages & Literature 0 0 0 6 0 6
Nutrition Science 0 0 0 4 2 6
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 0 0 0 0 4 4
Curriculum & Instruction 0 0 0 0 4 4
Germanic Languages 0 0 0 4 0 4
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 0 0 3 0 0 3
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences 0 0 3 0 0 3
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 0 0 0 0 3 3
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 0 0 0 0 3 3
Business Administration & Management 0 0 3 0 0 3
Information Technology 3 0 0 0 0 3
Dance 0 3 0 0 0 3
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 3 0 0 0 0 3
Botany/Plant Biology 0 0 0 0 2 2
Other Communication Technology 0 0 0 2 0 2
Homeland Security 0 0 2 0 0 2
Soil Sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 0 0 0 0 0 0
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other) 0 0 0 0 0 0
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 0 0 0 0 0 0
Education Philosophy 0 0 0 0 0 0
International Education 0 0 0 0 0 0
Human Sciences Business Services 0 0 0 0 0 0
East Asian Languages 0 0 0 0 0 0
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages 0 0 0 0 0 0
Health/Medical Prep Programs 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other Health Professions 0 0 0 0 0 0
Behavioral Science 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cognitive Science 0 0 0 0 0 0
Physics 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 233 5,638 286 1,323 913 8,393

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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