Colleges in Kentucky With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Graduate earnings are bunched together in Kentucky. The 28 four-year colleges we rank range only from $42,268 to $79,047, just $36,779 apart.
The median college sits at $53,335, which is $6,068 (10%) below the national median of $59,403. Private nonprofit colleges (17) have a median of $51,882 and public colleges (8) a median of $54,147, and the typical net price across the list is $18,570.
Galen College of Nursing-Louisville ranks first at $79,047, ahead of Thomas More University ($70,208) and University of Louisville ($67,853).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by earnings after 4 years, highest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Kentucky
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- A reported earnings after 4 years value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Kentucky has 28
- Data period
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 28 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Galen College of Nursing-Louisville Louisville, KY For-profit · 4-year | $79,047 | $18,540 | $24,166 | 62% | 4,801 |
| 2 | Thomas More University Crestview Hills, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $70,208 | $21,835 | $26,236 | 40% | 1,293 |
| 3 | University of Louisville Louisville, KY Public · 4-year | $67,853 | $17,988 | $20,500 | 61% | 14,727 |
| 4 | University of Kentucky Lexington, KY Public · 4-year | $65,922 | $18,851 | $22,500 | 71% | 24,763 |
| 5 | Centre College Danville, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,933 | $20,781 | $27,000 | 83% | 1,400 |
| 6 | Bellarmine University Louisville, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,564 | $21,499 | $25,000 | 66% | 2,161 |
| 7 | Spalding University Louisville, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,136 | $25,491 | $25,250 | 54% | 583 |
| 8 | Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY Public · 4-year | $58,429 | $8,191 | $23,000 | 50% | 8,246 |
| 9 | Beckfield College-Florence Florence, KY For-profit · 4-year | $56,129 | $28,133 | $23,500 | 31% | 536 |
| 10 | University of Pikeville Pikeville, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $55,132 | $20,311 | $20,679 | 40% | 1,135 |
| 11 | Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY Public · 4-year | $54,691 | $11,040 | $22,500 | 50% | 12,318 |
| 12 | Midway University Midway, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $54,588 | $29,579 | $21,301 | 43% | 1,262 |
| 13 | Georgetown College Georgetown, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $54,370 | $14,095 | $25,200 | 48% | 1,097 |
| 14 | Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY Public · 4-year | $53,602 | $10,990 | $22,095 | 55% | 12,155 |
| 15 | Sullivan University Louisville, KY For-profit · 4-year | $53,068 | $25,532 | $20,000 | 56% | 2,026 |
| 16 | Union Commonwealth University Barbourville, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $52,077 | $21,311 | $24,250 | 34% | 746 |
| 17 | University of the Cumberlands Williamsburg, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $51,882 | $14,107 | $14,911 | 48% | 6,941 |
| 18 | Brescia University Owensboro, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $51,492 | $8,709 | $29,430 | 51% | 545 |
| 19 | Transylvania University Lexington, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $50,923 | $21,913 | $27,000 | 71% | 1,005 |
| 20 | Murray State University Murray, KY Public · 4-year | $50,487 | $9,096 | $20,500 | 60% | 6,688 |
| 21 | Morehead State University Morehead, KY Public · 4-year | $50,224 | $9,793 | $22,250 | 50% | 4,578 |
| 22 | Campbellsville University Campbellsville, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $47,650 | $19,341 | $17,156 | 44% | 2,840 |
| 23 | Kentucky State University Frankfort, KY Public · 4-year | $46,766 | $8,040 | $25,938 | 30% | 1,309 |
| 24 | Asbury University Wilmore, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $45,728 | $21,401 | $24,028 | 65% | 1,420 |
| 25 | Kentucky Wesleyan College Owensboro, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $45,592 | $17,131 | $23,250 | 49% | 842 |
| 26 | Lindsey Wilson University Columbia, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $43,852 | $15,070 | $16,784 | 41% | 1,585 |
| 27 | Berea College Berea, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $42,924 | $6,106 | $3,591 | 60% | 1,513 |
| 28 | Alice Lloyd College Pippa Passes, KY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $42,268 | $18,600 | $19,599 | 32% | 558 |
How to compare these colleges
High earnings partly reflect who enrolls and what they study: engineering, nursing and business programs usually pay more than education or the arts, so a school with strong health or technical programs can top the list. Read the earnings next to net price, debt and graduation rate, because earnings count only people who finished, and four years after graduation is early in a career.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for Kentucky
Cheapest colleges in Kentucky
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Best value colleges in Kentucky
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Most affordable private colleges in Kentucky
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Same list in nearby states
Highest graduate earnings in Ohio
64 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Illinois
50 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Virginia
40 schools
All 35 colleges in Kentucky See the national version of this ranking