The University

The university continues to attract the best and brightest from Kentucky and beyond, enrolling students from more than 100 countries, every state in the nation and all 120 Kentucky counties. As one of only eight institutions in the country with the full complement of liberal arts, engineering, professional, agricultural and medical colleges and disciplines on one contiguous campus, students can choose from more than 200 majors and degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. UK is home to 16 academic and professional degree-granting colleges, as well as the Graduate School and Lewis Honors College. The colleges consist of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment; Arts and Sciences; the Gatton College of Business and Economics; Communication and Information; Dentistry; Design; Education; the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering; Fine Arts; Health Sciences; the J. David Rosenberg College of Law; Medicine; Nursing; Pharmacy; Public Health; and Social Work. The Lewis Honors College provides an immersive liberal arts education with the resources of a leading research university, and the Graduate School prepares the next generation of business, industry and academic leaders. Supporting and emboldening our scholarly community is a comprehensive research library system made up of seven facilities, housing multiple collections and centers, including the world-class William T. Young Library.

UK undergraduate, graduate and professional students compete successfully for prestigious scholarships and awards, such as Fulbright, Astronaut, Truman, Goldwater, Marshall, Udall, Rhodes and Gates Cambridge. The Office of Nationally Competitive Awards assists all students and alumni with applications for awards funded outside of the university. UK has had 14 Truman Scholars and six Marshall Scholars. Its third Gates Cambridge Scholar was named in 2022-23 and 10th Rhodes Scholar was named in 2018-19. Additionally, UK has celebrated 25 Astronaut Scholars, awarded a total of 27 Astronaut Scholarships, as well as 35 Goldwater Scholars since 1995. Since the inception of the Fulbright Program in 1946, 288 UK faculty and staff and 135 UK students have been awarded Fulbright grants in support of research, teaching and studies in more than 70 countries around the world.

By putting students first; taking care of our people; inspiring ingenuity; ensuring greater trust, transparency and accountability; and bringing together many people, one community, the University of Kentucky continues to equip the next generation of leaders who will impact our world for the better.

The University

The University of Kentucky has a broad range of resources centered on a single campus in the heart of the Bluegrass. Our wide array of programs allows us to excel in multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies and fosters an environment of cooperative engagement across all colleges, programs and research endeavors. Because of the lives we touch and teach, we remain anchored in our mission to Kentucky - to educate, innovate, heal and serve. To be sure, our complex, multi-faceted mission looks different today in many ways than it did in 1865. However, our sense of responsibility to our communities on campus and across the region is resolute. Our institution continues to evolve and grow, but our mission remains the same - to advance Kentucky. That is our north star; the soul of the University of Kentucky.

UK’s campus offers facilities that advance the scholarship of its students and the research endeavors of its faculty. Indeed, in the past 14 years, the institution has invested more than $7.1 billion in new or renovated facilities that enhance living, learning, scholarship and athletics across the institution.

At the heart of the campus is the iconic William T. Young Library, the most visible of several facilities that comprise UK Libraries. The stately architecture features a 93-foot-tall rotunda and a dramatic five-floor atrium allowing natural light to pour in from skylights. UK Libraries is among the world’s leading research libraries with a broad scope of advanced technology that offers students, faculty, staff and Kentucky residents special access to current information online, in addition to printed resources.

Over the last several years, the University of Kentucky has engaged in an effort to revitalize student living and learning spaces. UK’s public/private partnership with EdR/Greystar has yielded more than 6,800 modern beds and more than 200 active learning spaces in 14 buildings - a more than $450 million investment made by our partners. 

• Lyman T. Johnson Hall and Donovan Hall opened in fall 2013;
• Chellgren Hall, Don and Mira Ball Hall, Haggin Hall, Jewell Hall and Blazer Hall opened in fall 2014;
• Pigman Hall, Woodland Glen IV and Woodland Glen V opened in fall 2015;
• Holmes Hall and Boyd Hall opened in fall 2016; and
• University Flats and Lewis Hall opened in fall 2017.

In 2023, the university’s Board of Trustees approved a plan to seek legislative authority for the construction of Phase IV of the university’s student housing project that began in 2011. The approval authorizes UK to negotiate and enter into a pre-development agreement and a long-term lease with Greystar Real Estate for the development and management of a proposed $81 million four-story building for undergraduate students that will include approximately 644 beds and be located at the former site of the Kirwan/Blanding complex.

Research at the University of Kentucky is a dynamic enterprise encompassing traditional scholarship, the humanities, health care and emerging scientific fields and technologies. The scope and scale of UK’s research enterprise resulted in more than $937 million in FY24 in economic impact and more than 4,700 jobs across the state.

With more than 70 research centers and institutes, UK researchers are discovering new knowledge; providing a rich training ground for current students and the next generation of researchers; and advancing the economic growth of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

UK Research funds eight Research Priority Areas (RPAs): cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, uniting communities, energy, materials science, neuroscience and substance use disorders. These areas were selected based on local relevance, existing funding strength, sustainability and disciplinary research collaboration. The initiative began in 2018 to seed innovative ideas and bring researchers together to compete for federal funding.

UK is one of 34 institutions in the country with the trifecta of National Institutes of Health research designations for excellence in cancer, aging and translational science.

Among the brightest examples of UK’s investment in transformative research is the Markey Cancer Center. The UK Markey Cancer Center has earned a “Comprehensive” Cancer Center designation, the highest level of recognition awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Currently, there are 72 NCI-designated Cancer Centers across the nation, and 57 of those are Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Markey is the first and only center in Kentucky to achieve this designation, with the next-closest Comprehensive Cancer Center nearly 200 miles from Lexington. Markey’s robust research and clinical enterprise is the cornerstone of our commitment to improving the health and welfare of our state, which is burdened by the nation’s highest rate of cancer deaths per 100,000 people.

In Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) received a $23.5 million, four-year award from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is the third time the CCTS has successfully competed for the prestigious Clinical and Translational Award (CTSA), with continuous funding since 2011. The CCTS accelerates UK’s work to advance promising new treatments and leading-edge care by translating basic science discoveries for use in the clinic and communities. There are more than 4,000 members of CCTS, representing 15 UK colleges.

In FY22, the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging received a $14.5 million, five-year award for its Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) program from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a division of the NIH. Initially funded in 1985, UK was one of the original 10 ADRCs in the United States and is celebrating 40 years of continuous funding. The center has established itself as a research leader in Alzheimer’s disease and associated neurodegenerative disorders. By investigating the function of tau, inflammation and astrocytes in Alzheimer’s, Sanders-Brown scientists are on the front line of dementia prevention and care research.

In 1957, UK established what has become one of the nation’s finest academic medical centers. Comprising more than 9,000 people - physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals - all dedicated to providing the most advanced, most effective care available, UK HealthCare is the clinical enterprise and academic medical center of the University of Kentucky. In Lexington, UK HealthCare includes UK Chandler Hospital, an adult Level 1 trauma center, transplant center and NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center; UK Good Samaritan Hospital, an acute care facility; and Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Since December 2022, growth has extended across the Commonwealth through the addition of UK King’s Daughters and UK St. Claire. By the end of the fiscal year 2024, UK HealthCare included six owned hospitals, more than 1,700 total licensed beds, more than 2.95 million ambulatory visits and 71,000 total discharges. Finally, UK HealthCare manages Eastern State Hospital, which provides acute care mental health services in central Kentucky.

The university has demonstrated its commitment to partnerships with businesses and other institutions of higher learning. As an $8.6 billion university, UK is one of the region’s largest employers and is fostering better relationships with the community by directly engaging businesses, local government and civic service organizations. Additionally, the university is intentional about supporting local and small businesses as they seek to engage with the institution.

UK’s reach extends far beyond the borders of Fayette County. UK’s Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering and graduates of our institution are critical components of growing an advanced manufacturing economy in central Kentucky. Thanks to a unique partnership between the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering and the Bluegrass Community and Technical College, students can earn an Associate of Applied Science and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology. The college’s Fujio Cho Department of Engineering Technology, made possible in large part through a $2.25 million gift from Toyota, offers two four-year undergraduate degrees in lean systems engineering technology and computer engineering technology. Graduates of these pathways will be trained in the latest technologies and equipped with the practical skills necessary for thriving in advanced technology industries. In 2023, the late Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, a UK alum and former trustee, bestowed a transformational gift of $100 million to the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) through The Bill Gatton Foundation. This gift, believed to be the largest to a college of agriculture in the United States, will transform agricultural communities across the Commonwealth through enhanced student support, scholarships, new programming, capital projects and new initiatives and faculty research.

UK’s reach extends far beyond the borders of Fayette County. UK’s Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering and graduates of our institution are critical components of growing an advanced manufacturing economy in central Kentucky. Thanks to a unique partnership between the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering and the Bluegrass Community and Technical College, students can earn an Associate of Applied Science and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology. The college’s Fujio Cho Department of Engineering Technology, made possible in large part through a $2.25 million gift from Toyota, offers two four-year undergraduate degrees in lean systems engineering technology and computer engineering technology. Graduates of these pathways will be trained in the latest technologies and equipped with the practical skills necessary for thriving in advanced technology industries. In 2023, the late Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, a UK alum and former trustee, bestowed a transformational gift of $100 million to the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) through The Bill Gatton Foundation. This gift, believed to be the largest to a college of agriculture in the United States, will transform agricultural communities across the Commonwealth through enhanced student support, scholarships, new programming, capital projects and new initiatives and faculty research.

UK is also part of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education’s (CPE) Graduate Profile Academy - a group formed by higher education institutions across the state that are working to establish essential employability skills within their programs, degrees and certificates. The Graduate Profile Academy uses a set of 10 essential skills, including effective communication, critical thinking and civic engagement, to build outcomes that all higher education graduates in Kentucky should meet by the time they enter the workforce. UK’s agenda remains committed to accelerating the university’s academic excellence in all areas while gaining worldwide recognition for its outstanding academic programs, its commitment to students, its investment in pioneering research and discovery, its success in building one community made of many people and its engagement with the larger society. It is all part of the university’s mission as a 21st century flagship and land-grant research university. From its Nobel Laureates to innovative work in addressing health disparities, and from the artistic wonders that stir souls to the scientific creativity that inspires minds, UK seeks a brighter future through the contributions of our faculty, staff, students and alumni. We are the University of Kentucky.

Mission Statement

The University of Kentucky is a public, land grant university dedicated to improving people’s lives through excellence in education, research and creative work, service and health care. As Kentucky’s flagship institution, the university plays a critical leadership role by promoting diversity, inclusion, economic development and human well-being.

The University of Kentucky:

• Facilitates learning, informed by scholarship and research;
• Expands knowledge through research, scholarship and creative activity; and
• Serves a global community by disseminating, sharing and applying knowledge.

The University, as the flagship institution, plays a critical leadership role for the Commonwealth by contributing to the economic development and quality of life within Kentucky’s borders and beyond. The University nurtures a diverse community characterized by fairness and equal opportunity.

Strategic Vision Statement

As Kentucky’s indispensable institution, we transform the lives of our students and advance the Commonwealth we serve - and beyond - through our teaching and learning, diversity and inclusion, discovery, research and creativity, promotion of health, and deep community engagement.

University Values

The University of Kentucky is guided by its core values: 

• Integrity;
• Excellence;
• Mutual respect and human dignity;
• Diversity and inclusion;
• Academic freedom;
• Personal and institutional responsibility and accountability;
• Shared governance;
• A sense of community;
• Work-life sensitivity;
• Civic engagement; and
• Social responsibility.