Op-Ed: Growth is critical for UK, for Lexington, for Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 15, 2026) — An important story is being obscured by recent headlines about the University of Kentucky’s enrollment and the construction underway to support the growth of the campus.

UK must grow — not for the sake of numbers, but for its health as a campus and most importantly for the economic vitality of our community and our Commonwealth. Here are the facts:

• Over the past 15 years, the University of Kentucky has undertaken one of the largest and most ambitious student housing construction programs in American public higher education. Through an investment exceeding $500 million, UK has fundamentally transformed its residential campus, constructing more than 7,500 modern student housing beds and creating one of the most significant residential  transformations in the country.
• From July 2011 through June 2026, the university approved more than $9 billion in capital investments — $9.35 billion across 312 projects totaling more than 11.3 million square feet of new or renovated space. The new residence halls, classroom and research spaces and athletics facilities have enabled UK to grow by more than11,000 students and add more than 15,000 employees in that time period.
• The university is one of the state’s largest employers with more than 35,000 employees. Of those residing in Kentucky, just over half live in Fayette County.

We plan to invest even more in our community through different kinds of housing, entertainment options and the continued growth of our campus and state in ways that positively impact health and the economy. Why is that important?

• In 2025-26, UK employees paid more than $50 million in occupational taxes to the city and nearly $8 million in taxes for Fayette County Schools. Over the last 15 years, taxes paid to the city and schools, respectively, were more than $536 million and nearly $84 million.
• If we want better roads, new bike paths, green spaces and a healthy economy made possible by increasing jobs, we should push for UK to continue to grow.

The same is true of more students. Examine the Commonwealth’s growth — in terms of people and the economy.

State leaders are doing a lot of the right things. Over the same roughly 15-year period, Kentucky’s population has increased by about 4 percent; our economy, as measured by gross domestic product, has grown by about 20 percent.

It’s good. But there is still more to do and our leaders understand that.

If you look at the more than dozen states surrounding us, particularly to the South, Kentucky is in the bottom quartile of both population and economic growth.

There is a strong correlation between a larger, educated and skilled workforce and economic growth. We must grow more, and accelerate that growth, if we are going to be competitive in the 21st century — a time marked by tectonic and dynamic shifts in the economy, the types of jobs being created today and those we haven’t yet imagined for tomorrow.

None of that means that we should ignore the imperative to be thoughtful.

We should work with our partners at the city to understand housing needs, for example, and collaboratively plan to address them.

But here too, the numbers tell an important story. The city’s own 2024 study indicated a housing shortage of more than 22,000 units across all types of housing and prices.

Student housing in the city can’t be isolated from this discussion. Depending on how it’s done and planned for, it can have positive or negative impacts on our community.

But it is part of a continuum — we need more student housing on campus and in the community as part of a range of housing choices aligned across varying incomes and needs in our community.

That’s not only a UK issue, although we are and must be part of it. It is a larger policy discussion around land use and policy as well as regulations that restrict growth, development and density.

At UK, we are willing — and want – to be part of that discussion. But we should start from a basic set of facts: We were created to advance Kentucky. Lexington is critical to that equation — so is our continued growth. Let’s work together to make that happen.

Jay Blanton is vice president for university relations at the University of Kentucky.