UK announces record numbers in degrees, certificates awarded and enrollment

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 18, 2026) — The University of Kentucky in 2025-26 soared past 10,000 degrees and certificates awarded in one academic year for the first time with nearly 11,230.

The numbers illustrate the institution’s continuing growth, its progress in helping more students graduate on time and its commitment to meeting the state’s workforce needs.

“Our enduring mission is to advance Kentucky in everything that we do,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “There is no more tangible or important expression of how we accomplish that mission than in our commitment to educate and prepare more and more students to meet the state’s workforce needs. We are aligned with the Kentucky’s priorities and are quickly making progress in strategically growing to create and sustain our state’s economy with a skilled workforce — students who are prepared for careers and lives of meaning and purpose.”

UK’s enrollment numbers will be final in October. But the preliminary numbers, released each September in conjunction with the first meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees for the academic year, reflect a trajectory of growth paired with continued success in helping a record numbers of students graduate within six years.

The following is UK’s academic success and enrollment by the numbers:

• Students earned 11,228 degrees and certificates in 2025-26, up 15% from the previous year and the first time that number is above 10,000.
• Awarded more than 9,100 degrees (13% increase) and 2,120 certificates (23% increase), a reflection of how more students are seeking additional credentials above their bachelor’s degrees to prepare for the workforce.
• Overall enrollment is a record 39,541, up 3% over the previous year and the first time over 39,000 students.
• First-time, first-year student enrollment is at more than 6,700 students, roughly the same as last year by design. More than 61% of those students come from Kentucky; more than 38% come from outside the state — numbers on par with the last several years.
• The number of undergraduate students who are defined as first generation increased more than 3% over the previous year to more than 27% of UK’s enrollment. Among first-year students, nearly 27% are first generation, virtually the same as last year.
• The number of students from what the state has traditionally designated as underrepresented backgrounds also has increased to nearly 19%, up more than 8% over the previous year. Among first year students, nearly 18% are from underrepresented backgrounds, about the same as last year.
• UK’s retention and graduation rates also continued their impressive ascent. First-to-second-year retention is up one percentage point from the year prior at 86%; six-year graduation rates are at more than 73% for the first time — placing UK among the Top 100 four-year institutions in the country, according to the most recent numbers available.
• Four-year graduation rates are at nearly 63%, more than 30 percentage points higher than about a decade and a half ago.
• The number of UK graduate students has increased by about 4%, up to nearly 8,400.
• As in previous years, UK has students from all 120 Kentucky counties and all 50 states.
• UK Invests — a program in which every student has access to an investment account, financial education and other wellness programs — continues to demonstrate the University’s commitment to innovative programs that place students first.
• Students participating in UK Invests had a retention rate of nearly 90%; those who did not had retention rates of just under 83%. Students in UK Invests also had higher GPAs —3.31 to 2.93.

Over the last two years, more than half of students in UK’s first-year classes set up a UK Invests account. Since 2023, when the program was initiated, more than 18,000 students earned nearly $3 million from UK for their accounts; those earnings have translated into a projected account value in investments of some $9 million.

“When we invest in the success of students, we know they will invest in the future growth, health and prosperity of our state,” Capilouto said. “That is our commitment. That is progress we are making and the more than 160-year-old promise that is ours to keep. These numbers reflect that we are making good on that promise — to advance Kentucky so that we might have a state that tomorrow is healthier, wealthier and wiser than it is today.”