Enrollment Trends at UK

The student population at University of Kentucky is 34,709 (25,534 undergraduate and 9,175 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 4,982 (16.76%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at UK is 73.57% which is increased by 2,829 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 2,153 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 66 male students for every 100 female students, down from 86 in 2015.
5,063 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 313.98% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 30,689 where 34,709 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 7 year-over-year increases and 2 decreases. It peaked at 34,709 students in 2025 and was lowest at 29,182 in 2019. Overall, enrollment rose from 29,727 to 34,709 students, a net gain of 4,982 (16.8%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at University of Kentucky since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	29,727	22,705	10,636	12,069	7,022	3,085	3,937
2016-17	29,781 54	22,621 -84	10,363 -273	12,258 189	7,160 138	3,192 107	3,968 31
2017-18	29,465 -316	22,425 -196	10,127 -236	12,298 40	7,040 -120	3,122 -70	3,918 -50
2018-19	29,182 -283	22,136 -289	9,852 -275	12,284 -14	7,046 6	3,076 -46	3,970 52
2019-20	29,402 220	22,236 100	9,828 -24	12,408 124	7,166 120	3,021 -55	4,145 175
2020-21	29,986 584	22,227 -9	9,630 -198	12,597 189	7,759 593	3,106 85	4,653 508
2021-22	30,390 404	21,900 -327	9,433 -197	12,467 -130	8,490 731	3,203 97	5,287 634
2022-23	31,547 1,157	22,735 835	9,583 150	13,152 685	8,812 322	3,140 -63	5,672 385
2023-24	32,703 1,156	23,930 1,195	10,066 483	13,864 712	8,773 -39	3,066 -74	5,707 35
2024-25	34,709 2,006	25,534 1,604	10,671 605	14,863 999	9,175 402	3,162 96	6,013 306
Average	30,689	22,845	10,019	12,826	7,844	3,117	4,727

University of Kentucky Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 22,845 where 25,534 students are attending the Undergraduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at University of Kentucky since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	22,705	21,199	9,860	11,339	1,506	776	730
2016-17	22,621	20,833	9,446	11,387	1,788	917	871
2017-18	22,425	20,657	9,238	11,419	1,768	889	879
2018-19	22,136	20,484	9,042	11,442	1,652	810	842
2019-20	22,236	20,622	9,031	11,591	1,614	797	817
2020-21	22,227	20,239	8,688	11,551	1,988	942	1,046
2021-22	21,900	19,829	8,469	11,360	2,071	964	1,107
2022-23	22,735	20,790	8,747	12,043	1,945	836	1,109
2023-24	23,930	21,818	9,172	12,646	2,112	894	1,218
2024-25	25,534	23,390	9,721	13,669	2,144	950	1,194
Average	22,845	22,845	9,141	11,845	22,845	878	981

University of Kentucky Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 7,844 where 9,175 students are attending the Graduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at University of Kentucky since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	7,022	5,745	2,648	3,097	1,277	437	840
2016-17	7,160	5,849	2,736	3,113	1,311	456	855
2017-18	7,040	5,739	2,661	3,078	1,301	461	840
2018-19	7,046	5,674	2,613	3,061	1,372	463	909
2019-20	7,166	5,679	2,535	3,144	1,487	486	1,001
2020-21	7,759	6,005	2,564	3,441	1,754	542	1,212
2021-22	8,490	6,444	2,589	3,855	2,046	614	1,432
2022-23	8,812	6,830	2,568	4,262	1,982	572	1,410
2023-24	8,773	6,808	2,542	4,266	1,965	524	1,441
2024-25	9,175	7,052	2,605	4,447	2,123	557	1,566
Average	7,844	7,844	2,606	3,576	7,844	511	1,151

University of Kentucky Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 73.85%. The percentage was 74.27% 10 years ago and UK still has a high percentage of white students. 3.73% of enrolled students is Asian and 6.88% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 6.44% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 74.27% to 73.85%. Asian enrollment grew from 2.73% to 3.73%. Black student enrollment increased from 6.80% to 6.88%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 3.84% to 6.44%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.4428 which indicates that somewhat diverse. This increased from 0.4408 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at University of Kentucky over the past 11 years (2015-2025).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2015-16	64	813	2,020	1,142	29	22,077	864
2016-17	58	814	2,088	1,293	26	21,986	930
2017-18	66	848	2,069	1,284	29	21,837	941
2018-19	49	907	1,981	1,331	22	21,512	991
2019-20	55	946	1,947	1,425	18	21,593	1,033
2020-21	52	1,000	2,068	1,558	15	21,992	1,036
2021-22	58	1,110	2,143	1,631	19	22,283	1,094
2022-23	62	1,172	2,217	1,779	21	23,250	1,150
2023-24	58	1,240	2,303	1,945	28	24,210	1,199
2024-25	70	1,295	2,387	2,236	28	25,632	1,384
Average	59	1,015	2,122	1,562	24	22,637	1,062

University of Kentucky Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

5,063 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 15% of total students. The number of online students has increased 313.98% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at University of Kentucky from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	29,727	1,223	5,320	23,184
2016-17	29,781	1,415	4,994	23,372
2017-18	29,465	1,469	5,515	22,481
2018-19	29,182	1,622	5,416	22,144
2019-20	29,402	1,992	5,894	21,516
2020-21	29,986	4,976	20,106	4,904
2021-22	30,390	3,447	8,399	18,544
2022-23	31,547	4,064	9,547	17,936
2023-24	32,703	4,695	10,994	17,014
2024-25	34,709	5,063	13,126	16,520
Average	30,689	2,997	8,931	18,762

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Enrollment Trends at UK

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

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