Private colleges, unlike large public institutions, can be a great option for students wanting a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Here is our list of the best private colleges in Kentucky.
Between community colleges, technical schools, and universities, Kentucky has 24 public schools. The community colleges and technical schools average $4,000 for tuition, and tuition for public universities ranges from $8,000 to $12,000. Those looking to attend private colleges can choose from 26 schools, of which 21 are religiously affiliated. The cost to attend private schools tends to be higher, reaching $42,000 in Kentucky, but there are some affordable options with tuition rates as low as $9,000.
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The largest and top-rated public university is the University of Kentucky, which has over 30,000 students and costs about $12,000. Political science, chemistry, and literature are all possible majors. Students who attend either the University of Louisville or Western Kentucky University will become part of a friendly basketball rivalry. Both of these universities also offer varying fields of study, including mathematics, communications, business, and history. In addition, Kentucky encourages graduating education students to apply for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, which awards $5,000 to $17,500 toward Federal Stafford loans to those remaining the profession.
There is something for everyone in The Bluegrass State. Kentucky is home to the famous Kentucky Derby, the Daniel Boone National Forest, and the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. Students wanting to study where Abraham Lincoln and Muhammad Ali both called home have 50 higher learning institutions from which to choose.
Kentucky has it all — associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Check out the top programs and find which institution is the right one for you.
Public and private colleges and universities operate under different business models — one is a private company with private funding; the other is owned by the state and receives both state and federal funding to operate. If you’re weighing the pros and cons of private vs. public college, consider that many public colleges provide diverse course offerings, influential professors, and an excellent return on your investment.
Public colleges are schools that receive most of their funding from tax revenues. As a result, the cost of a four-year degree at a public university is often lower than the equivalent cost at a private college — especially for students attending a public school in their home state. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board for full-time students) at a four-year public university was slightly over $20,000. In contrast, private universities cost, on average, nearly $43,000 annually.
This list is composed entirely of private colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 19 private universities in Kentucky; 9 of which meet our criteria. The list below of the best private universities in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Find out more about our ranking methodology here.
Tuition + fees
$42K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
74%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1215/26
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Transylvania University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$45K
Acceptance
33%
Graduation
67%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1194/25
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Berea College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$44K
Acceptance
72%
Graduation
83%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1255/29
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Centre College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$26K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
58%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1040/19
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Spalding University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
64%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1190/24
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Asbury University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$43K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
64%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1160/25
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Bellarmine University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
40%
Student body
14K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/21
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University of the Cumberlands’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
72%
Graduation
56%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1161/24
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Georgetown College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$33K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
39%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1075/22
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Thomas More University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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