University of Kentucky College Portrait

Test(s) Required for Admission: SAT or ACT recommended

50% of admitted students have test scores within the ranges listed, 25% have scores above, and 25% have scores below.

Typical Undergraduate Costs for 2010-11 without Financial Aid (Full-Time, In-State Students)

Total Typical Cost of Attendance: $21,452.00

The cost to attend University of Kentucky varies based on the individual circumstances of students and may be reduced through grants and scholarships.

How much would I pay?

Financial Aid: How much help is there to pay?

Scholarships & Grants

• 25% of 2010-11 full-time undergraduates received need-based grants or scholarships; the average award for the year was $5,306.00. Scholarships and grants are financial aid that does not need to be repaid and is sometimes referred to as gift aid.

Annual Need-Based Loans

• 34% of 2010-11 full-time undergraduates received need-based work-study and/or loans (not including parent loans); the average loan for the year was $4,201.00. Loans need to be repaid. Typically, repayment starts once you are no longer enrolled full-time. Please refer to page 12 of the Funding Education Beyond High School guide on the US Department of Education's Federal Student Aid website for more information about Financial Need.

Percent of 2010 Full-time Beginning Students Receiving Each Type of Financial Aid

NOTE: Students may receive aid from more than one source.

92% of new freshmen live in campus-based housing or residence halls.
26% of all undergraduates live on campus

The University of Kentucky's on-going safety and security initiatives include a campus-wide emergency notification system, a focus on peer influence to reduce violence, widespread safety and security education, improved campus lighting and landscaping, innovative fire safety practices, expanded police patrols, and enhanced health and mental health services. UK constantly and continuously examines and refines its policies and procedures to ensure a safe and secure campus environment.

The Carnegie Classification's were created "to reference the great diversity of colleges and universities in the United States, and ... enable [people] to identify groups of roughly comparable institutions." For information on the Carnegie Classifications system, please visit their website: http://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org/

Basic Type

Research Universities (very high research activity)

Size and Setting

Large four-year, primarily residential

Enrollment Profile

High undergraduate

Undergraduate Profile

Full-time four-year, selective, higher transfer-in

Undergraduate Instructional Program

Professions plus arts & sciences, high graduate coexistence

Graduate Instructional Program

Comprehensive doctoral with medical/veterinary

NOTE: Institutional classifications based on the Carnegie 2005 edition.

Students who are actively involved in their own learning and development are more likely to be successful in college. Colleges and universities offer students a wide variety of opportunities both inside and outside the classroom to become engaged with new ideas, people, and experiences. Institutions measure the effectiveness of these opportunities in a variety of ways to better understand what types of activities and programs students find the most helpful.

Institutions participating in the VSA program measure student involvement on campus using one of four national surveys. Results from the one survey are reported for a common set of questions selected as part of VSA. Following are the selected results from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The questions have been grouped together in categories that are known to contribute to student learning and development. The results reported below are based on the responses of seniors who participated in the survey.

Group Learning Experiences

• 94.0% percent of seniors worked with classmates on assignments outside of class.
• 58.0% of seniors tutored or taught other students
• 27.0% of seniors spent at least 6 hours per week participating in co-curricular activities such as student organizations and intramural sports

Active Learning Experiences

• 81.0% of seniors spent at least 6 hours per week preparing for class
• 24.0% of seniors worked on a research project with a faculty member
• 55.0% of seniors participated in an internship, practicum, or field experience
• 61.0% of seniors participated in community service or volunteer work
• 15.0% of seniors participated in study abroad
• 94.0% of seniors made at least one class presentation last year

Institutional Commitment to Student Learning and Success

• 93.0% of seniors believe this institution provides support for student success
• 62.0% of seniors rated the quality of academic advising at this institution as good or excellent
• 54.0% of seniors reported that this institution provided help in coping with work, family and other non-academic responsibilities
• 92.0% of seniors reported working harder than they thought they could to meet an instructor's standards or expectations

Student Interaction with Campus Faculty and Staff

• 50.0% of seniors believed that the campus staff were helpful, considerate, or flexible
• 72.0% of seniors believed that faculty are available, helpful, or sympathetic
• 96.0% of seniors reported that faculty members provided prompt feedback on their academic performance
• 71.0% of seniors discussed readings or ideas with faculty members outside of class

Experiences with Diverse Groups of People and Ideas

• 64.0% of seniors reported that they often tried to understand someone else's point of view
• 86.0% of seniors reported their experience at this institution contributed to their understanding people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds
• 48.0% of seniors often had serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity

Student Satisfaction

• 79.0% of seniors would attend this institution if they started over again
• 82.0% of seniors rated their entire educational experience as good or excellent
• 79.0% of seniors reported that other students were friendly or supportive

A 90% four-year success and progress rate means that 90% of students starting in Fall 2005 either graduated or are still enrolled at a higher education institution four years later.

Counts for the Fall 2005 entering class shown in the graph above.

• 3,825 First-Time, Full-Time Students
• 1,076 Full-Time Transfer Students

First-time students in Fall 2010 that returned for their second year: 82%

All colleges and universities use multiple approaches to measure student learning. Many of these are specific to particular disciplines, many are coordinated with accrediting agencies, and many are based on outcomes after students have graduated.

UK is committed to assessing what students know and can do with the education they receive. Assessment of student learning outcomes occurs at multiple levels. Faculty assess student learning at both the course and program levels where techniques such as the use of rubrics to evaluate samples of student performance are employed. University level assessments obtain performance and satisfaction data from students to provide multiple perspectives on the quality of student learning and the environment for learning. As examples, results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment show that UK seniors perform better than expected on a series of performance tasks, given their incoming academic preparation; the Graduating Seniors Survey reveals that 9 of 10 students rate the quality of instruction by faculty as good or excellent; and over 75% of respondents to the Undergraduate Alumni Survey indicated their current position was either directly or somewhat related to their majors. Key findings from these and other surveys can be found at: http://www.uky.edu/IRPE/students/surveys.html.

Colleges and universities participating in the College Portrait measure the typical improvement in students' abilities to think, reason, and write using one of three tests. This is part of a pilot project to better understand and compare what students learn between their freshman and senior years at different colleges and universities.

At the University of Kentucky, a second longitudinal study as has been initiated with the fall 2011 freshman cohort.  Future administrations will occur in spring 2013 and spring 2015.    The fall 2011 cohort’s mean scores were higher than the overall mean scores of all schools that participated in the CLA last fall.  The mean for total CLA scores, task scores, and the standard deviations can be located on our website.