by our College Data Analytics TeamUniversity of Kentucky is a public institution in Lexington, Kentucky enrolling 24,763 undergraduates. It accepts 93% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 71%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #337 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 7%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
University of Kentucky ranks #337 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 7%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
University of Kentucky was awarded 424 badges in the 2027 rankings.
UK is ranked #337 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, UK holds the #1 spot on the Best Colleges in Kentucky ranking.
See all of the rankings for University of Kentucky.
University of Kentucky has an acceptance rate of 93%, so it is easier to gain admission to this school than some others. Still, the admissions staff will examine your application closely to make sure you’re a good fit for UK.
About 7% 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 650. Math scores were between 530 and 640.
UK received ACT scores from 50% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 21 and 28.
Learn more about University of Kentucky admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 18 to 1, University of Kentucky is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at University of Kentucky is 82%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 87% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like University of Kentucky enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at UK for first-time, full-time students is 71%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of Kentucky.
In the current academic year, there are 24,763 undergraduates at UK.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at University of Kentucky.
The typical net cost at UK is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $12,182 | $12,119 | $16,313 | $21,192 | $26,781 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of UK, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
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 34% of students took out student loans averaging $6,182 a year. That adds up to $24,728 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.1%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for University of Kentucky.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from University of Kentucky make about $59,025 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future University of Kentucky graduates since it is 20% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at University of Kentucky make the most money.
University of Kentucky is an public institution situated in Lexington, Kentucky. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of University of Kentucky.
Contact details for University of Kentucky are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Phone: | 8592579000 |
| Website: | www.uky.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Kentucky |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/universityofky |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/universityofky |
In the latest year of available data, students from 31 majors graduated from University of Kentucky. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 10,162 | NA |
| Social Work | 1,355 | $37,785 |
| Business & Commerce | 496 | $47,918 |
| Mental & Social Health Services | 461 | NA |
| Nursing | 414 | $61,890 |
| Marketing | 392 | $38,713 |
| Finance & Financial Management | 358 | $50,819 |
| General Psychology | 316 | $24,569 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 260 | $34,243 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 253 | $30,755 |
13,588 students took at least one online class at University of Kentucky.
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
Learn more about online learning at University of Kentucky.
Curious how schools stack up against UK? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
Footnotes
*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.
References