University of Kentucky

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky operates as a public institution located in Lexington, Kentucky (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 24,763 students of which 25,088 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. University of Kentucky is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 92.9%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,215 and an ACT midpoint of 26. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $18,851, with published in-state tuition of $13,502 and a Pell grant recipient share of 22.5%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $22,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 70.7%, and the first-year retention rate is 86.8%. Graduates earn a median of $59,025 ten years after enrolling, compared with $47,266 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 650500.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 73.0% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.