Top colleges in Kentucky by 10-year ROI
Executive Summary
Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in Kentucky with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. Galen College of Nursing-Louisville leads this list at $320,200 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
Galen College of Nursing-Louisville
10 Yr. ROI
$320,200
Centre College
10 Yr. ROI
$219,701
Northern Kentucky University
10 Yr. ROI
$209,784
Top 25 Top colleges in Kentucky by 10-year ROI
| Rank | Institution | State | Control | Enrollment | 10 Yr. ROI | Also see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galen College of Nursing-Louisville | KY | Private for-profit | 4,801 | $320,200 | Grad 44.0% · Net $4,058 |
| 2 | Centre College | KY | Private nonprofit | 1,400 | $219,701 | Grad 79.1% · Net $19,980 |
| 3 | Northern Kentucky University | KY | Public | 8,246 | $209,784 | Grad 54.4% · Net $8,976 |
| 4 | University of Louisville | KY | Public | 14,727 | $208,771 | Grad 60.1% · Net $14,960 |
| 5 | Bellarmine University | KY | Private nonprofit | 2,161 | $203,316 | Grad 71.1% · Net $17,991 |
| 6 | University of Kentucky | KY | Public | 24,763 | $201,058 | Grad 71.7% · Net $18,868 |
| 7 | Murray State University | KY | Public | 6,688 | $193,128 | Grad 59.9% · Net $7,350 |
| 8 | Georgetown College | KY | Private nonprofit | 1,097 | $184,414 | Grad 49.0% · Net $13,270 |
| 9 | Berea College | KY | Private nonprofit | 1,513 | $183,126 | Grad 66.3% · Net $5,836 |
| 10 | Eastern Kentucky University | KY | Public | 12,318 | $177,298 | Grad 50.9% · Net $11,925 |
| 11 | Thomas More University | KY | Private nonprofit | 1,293 | $175,522 | Grad 49.4% · Net $22,723 |
| 12 | Morehead State University | KY | Public | 4,578 | $173,054 | Grad 48.2% · Net $9,912 |
| 13 | Western Kentucky University | KY | Public | 12,155 | $171,890 | Grad 55.9% · Net $11,789 |
| 14 | Union Commonwealth University | KY | Private nonprofit | 746 | $165,996 | Grad 39.9% · Net $11,010 |
| 15 | Brescia University | KY | Private nonprofit | 545 | $160,924 | Grad 49.3% · Net $14,909 |
| 16 | University of the Cumberlands | KY | Private nonprofit | 6,941 | $159,077 | Grad 50.1% · Net $13,885 |
| 17 | Transylvania University | KY | Private nonprofit | 1,005 | $153,895 | Grad 65.3% · Net $21,954 |
| 18 | Spalding University | KY | Private nonprofit | 583 | $139,897 | Grad 45.2% · Net $24,262 |
| 19 | Lindsey Wilson University | KY | Private nonprofit | 1,585 | $138,778 | Grad 40.9% · Net $14,300 |
| 20 | Kentucky Wesleyan College | KY | Private nonprofit | 842 | $133,226 | Grad 45.7% · Net $19,409 |
| 21 | Alice Lloyd College | KY | Private nonprofit | 558 | $125,130 | Grad 41.2% · Net $18,367 |
| 22 | Campbellsville University | KY | Private nonprofit | 2,840 | $120,498 | Grad 34.0% · Net $17,734 |
| 23 | University of Pikeville | KY | Private nonprofit | 1,135 | $117,262 | Grad 41.0% · Net $19,224 |
| 24 | Kentucky State University | KY | Public | 1,309 | $114,960 | Grad 29.7% · Net $17,637 |
| 25 | Asbury University | KY | Private nonprofit | 1,420 | $114,238 | Grad 65.4% · Net $21,061 |
Method notes
- Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
- Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted highest first on 10 Yr. ROI; 27 campuses met every filter and the top 25 are published.
- Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
- ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
- How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
- School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.