Net price by family income
What college costs in Kentucky, by family income
Published tuition is not what most families pay. Across the 44 Kentucky colleges reporting the complete federal net-price series, families earning under $30,000 paid a median of $8,244 a year after grants, and families earning over $110,000 paid $16,619. These are averages for a prior cohort of federal aid recipients, not a quote for your family.
Median net price at Kentucky colleges, by family income
| Family income | Median net price per year |
|---|---|
| Under $30,000 | $8,244 |
| $30,000 to $48,000 | $7,079 |
| $48,000 to $75,000 | $10,698 |
| $75,000 to $110,000 | $15,076 |
| $110,000 or more | $16,619 |
Median across 44 colleges, unweighted by enrolment, so a small college counts the same as a large one. Net price is the full cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid, and is not comparable to a tuition figure.
Kentucky colleges, for families earning $48,000 to $75,000
Lowest net price first for this one income band, showing 44 of 44 colleges. A different income band produces a different order, which is the whole point: use the tool below to see any band. This is a sort of one reported figure, not a ranking.
| College | Under $30k | $48k to $75k | $110k or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkinsville Community College, Hopkinsville, KY · Public two-year | $3,749 | $4,277 | $11,142 |
| Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College, Cumberland, KY · Public two-year | $3,047 | $4,346 | $10,485 |
| Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College, Bowling Green, KY · Public two-year | $3,352 | $4,415 | $11,090 |
| Hazard Community and Technical College, Hazard, KY · Public two-year | $2,740 | $4,697 | $9,717 |
| Somerset Community College, Somerset, KY · Public two-year | $3,145 | $5,432 | $10,189 |
| Owensboro Community and Technical College, Owensboro, KY · Public two-year | $3,980 | $5,809 | $9,948 |
| Big Sandy Community and Technical College, Prestonsburg, KY · Public two-year | $3,962 | $5,893 | $10,029 |
| Ashland Community and Technical College, Ashland, KY · Public two-year | $3,879 | $6,316 | $10,878 |
| Henderson Community College, Henderson, KY · Public two-year | $3,636 | $6,490 | $9,930 |
| Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY · Public four-year | $1,813 | $6,638 | $13,270 |
| Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, Elizabethtown, KY · Public two-year | $4,393 | $6,726 | $11,591 |
| Maysville Community and Technical College, Maysville, KY · Public two-year | $4,438 | $6,760 | $11,360 |
| West Kentucky Community and Technical College, Paducah, KY · Public two-year | $4,091 | $6,921 | $10,930 |
| Jefferson Community and Technical College, Louisville, KY · Public two-year | $5,197 | $7,195 | $12,015 |
| Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Lexington, KY · Public two-year | $4,265 | $7,256 | $10,886 |
| Madisonville Community College, Madisonville, KY · Public two-year | $4,556 | $7,716 | $10,876 |
| Gateway Community and Technical College, Florence, KY · Public two-year | $4,585 | $8,028 | $11,109 |
| Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY · Public four-year | $7,107 | $9,326 | $15,362 |
| Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY · Public four-year | $6,809 | $9,471 | $17,285 |
| Murray State University, Murray, KY · Public four-year | $5,594 | $9,616 | $14,282 |
| Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY · Private four-year | $8,926 | $9,698 | $19,770 |
| Morehead State University, Morehead, KY · Public four-year | $7,561 | $9,920 | $14,197 |
| University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, KY · Private four-year | $4,895 | $11,476 | $18,953 |
| Kentucky Mountain Bible College, Jackson, KY · Private four-year | $9,650 | $11,820 | $13,495 |
| Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, KY · Private four-year | $12,601 | $12,466 | $18,013 |
| Brescia University, Owensboro, KY · Private four-year | $14,897 | $12,467 | $20,215 |
| University of Pikeville, Pikeville, KY · Private four-year | $11,218 | $13,903 | $15,953 |
| University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY · Public four-year | $10,267 | $14,557 | $24,687 |
| Campbellsville University, Campbellsville, KY · Private four-year | $16,491 | $16,425 | $22,636 |
| MedQuest College, Louisville, KY · Private two-year | $18,935 | $16,432 | $23,049 |
| University of Louisville, Louisville, KY · Public four-year | $13,768 | $16,510 | $25,116 |
| Centre College, Danville, KY · Private four-year | $10,779 | $17,317 | $28,164 |
| Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY · Public four-year | $10,075 | $17,417 | $18,601 |
| Alice Lloyd College, Pippa Passes, KY · Private four-year | $16,717 | $17,436 | $20,723 |
| Thomas More University, Crestview Hills, KY · Private four-year | $14,407 | $19,388 | $23,299 |
| Asbury University, Wilmore, KY · Private four-year | $15,895 | $20,098 | $26,463 |
| Kentucky Christian University, Grayson, KY · Private four-year | $20,475 | $20,416 | $25,111 |
| Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY · Private four-year | $18,542 | $20,870 | $29,302 |
| Transylvania University, Lexington, KY · Private four-year | $17,035 | $21,414 | $29,681 |
| Midway University, Midway, KY · Private four-year | $22,513 | $21,880 | $26,810 |
| Galen College of Nursing-ARH, Hazard, KY · Private two-year | $20,616 | $22,763 | $28,731 |
| Spalding University, Louisville, KY · Private four-year | $21,467 | $23,416 | $29,032 |
| Sullivan University, Louisville, KY · Private four-year | $24,711 | $30,837 | $31,100 |
| Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro, KY · Private four-year | $35,694 | $36,301 | $37,533 |
What the Kentucky net-price data shows
- Across the 44 Kentucky colleges reporting the complete series, the median net price rises from $8,244 for families under $30,000 to $16,619 for families over $110,000. Net price is what students who received federal aid actually paid after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
- That is a $8,376 spread across the income range, or 2.02x. Aid is why: the same college charges a lower-income family less because more of its price is covered by grants. It does NOT mean every college in Kentucky follows this pattern, only that the median does.
- For families under $30,000, the median net price is $4,329 at the public colleges here and $16,604 at the private ones. Compare net price rather than sticker price before ruling either sector out.
How these figures were built
Every figure comes from the U.S. Department of Education net-price-by-income series (College Scorecard / IPEDS), as carried in CampusPin’s committed snapshot of 2026-08-12. Nothing is recomputed, modelled, or imputed.
Net price is the average paid by students who received federal aid, in each family-income band, after grant and scholarship aid is subtracted from the full cost of attendance. It is not tuition and must never be compared with a tuition figure. It is an average for a prior entering cohort, so it describes the college, not your family.
A college is published only if it reports the complete five-band series, so no row here has a hole in it. Colleges whose five-band series is byte-identical to another institution’s are excluded entirely rather than deduplicated: that pattern means one record’s series was attached to several schools upstream, and a page that prints a figure beside a college name must not guess which one owns it.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does college actually cost in Kentucky?
- It depends on family income, which is the point of this page. Across the 44 Kentucky colleges reporting the full federal series, the median net price is $8,244 a year for families earning under $30,000 and $16,619 for families earning over $110,000. Net price counts the full cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid, so it is a larger, more realistic number than tuition alone.
- Is net price the same as tuition?
- No, and they should never be compared directly. Published tuition covers instruction only. Net price is the total cost of attendance, including housing, food, books and fees, minus grants and scholarships that do not have to be repaid. A college can have higher tuition and a lower net price than another.
- Will my family pay these amounts?
- Almost certainly not exactly. Each figure is an average across federal aid recipients in that income band at that college, for a prior entering cohort. Your own price depends on your specific circumstances, the aid the college offers you, and the year you enrol. Use these to compare Kentucky colleges against each other, then run each college's own Net Price Calculator and confirm with its financial aid office.
- Why are some Kentucky colleges missing?
- A college appears here only if it reports the COMPLETE five-band series, so every income band is answerable for every college listed rather than leaving holes in the table. Colleges reporting a partial series are excluded, as are colleges whose series is byte-identical to another institution's, because that pattern means one record was attached to several schools upstream and the figure cannot be attributed to one of them.
Limitations of this data
- Net price is the average paid by FEDERAL AID RECIPIENTS in each income band after grant and scholarship aid; it is not a quote for any individual family.
- Bands are the federal series: $0-30k, $30-48k, $48-75k, $75-110k, $110k+ of family income.
- Reflects institutions in CampusPin's dataset, NOT the full federal IPEDS universe.
- CampusPin records control as public/private only; private nonprofit vs. for-profit is not split, and much of the private two-year group is for-profit career colleges.
- Degree level is APPROXIMATED by CampusPin institution type (university ~ four-year, community college ~ two-year); it is not a recorded field.
- Coverage is 65% overall and differs sharply by sector (see bySector.coveragePercent); non-response is not random, and some non-reporters are graduate-only institutions with no undergraduate series to report.
- Medians are across institutions and unweighted by enrollment, so a small college counts the same as a large one.
- Figures reflect a prior entering cohort, not the current academic year; the source does not expose a single cohort year through this API.
- Cells with fewer than 25 institutions would be suppressed; no cell in this release fell below that floor.
More South states
Cost and outcomes in Kentucky
- Kentucky colleges by published tuition
- Student debt at Kentucky colleges
- All colleges in Kentucky
- See any income band, any state
- Research: what college costs by family income
- Research: where college costs more than a family can borrow
- FAFSA lower earnings list: 21 Kentucky schools flagged now (21 in December 2025)
Keep going on CampusPin
Narrow this list with the full filter set, or put any two colleges side by side.
Federal reporting is updated annually. Report a data issue.
Data sources & methodology
Net price by family income for Kentucky colleges is compiled from federal collections reported by each institution.
Sources used across this page
Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.
IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard
Net price by income band, post-graduation earnings, and federal aid context.
Institutional websites
Each school's official admissions, registrar, and financial-aid pages are the authoritative source for current details.
Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. What College Costs in Kentucky, by Family Income. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/college-costs-by-income/kentucky