In-State Tuition in Kentucky: Residency Rules and Out-of-State Rates (Undergraduate, 2026)
To get in-state tuition in Kentucky you need 12 months of Kentucky domicile before the term begins (13 KAR 2:045). In-state undergraduate tuition is $13,700 a year at University of Kentucky, against $34,200 for non-residents. Kentucky participates in ACM.
- You would pay
- $13,700/yr
- Resident pays
- $13,700/yr
- Non-resident rate
- $34,200/yr
- Residency worth over 4 yrs
- $82,000
Tuition and mandatory fees only, compiled from published rates and rounded. Excludes housing, books and course differentials. Eligibility is decided by the institution, not by this page.
The undergraduate residency gap in Kentucky is $20,500 a year: $13,700 for residents at University of Kentucky, $34,200 for non-residents. Kentucky takes part in ACM, which is the only route to a lower rate that does not require moving.
Kentucky classifies a student as a resident after 12 months of domicile. A domicile in Kentucky maintained for the full 12 months preceding enrollment, shown through the ordinary markers of permanent residence — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and tax filing. Classification is decided by the institution you enroll at, and a financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile.
This page covers all 50 origin states. Direction matters: what a Kentucky resident pays elsewhere is a different question from what an arriving student pays here, and the two are rarely symmetric.
What Kentucky charges, and who pays less
| Route | What it gives you | Per year | Saving | Guaranteed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky residency | You pay the published resident rate once you meet the state's residency test. | $13,700 | $20,500 | Yes, if eligible |
Kentucky residency requirements
| Durational requirement | 12 months of domicile before the term begins |
|---|---|
| Domicile test | A domicile in Kentucky maintained for the full 12 months preceding enrollment, shown through the ordinary markers of permanent residence — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and tax filing. |
| Dependent students | A financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile. If your parents are not Kentucky residents, you are not one either, regardless of where you live. |
| Independent students | A financially independent adult can establish domicile on their own record. |
| Named exceptions |
|
| Authority | Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education ↗(13 KAR 2:045) |
Step by step
- Confirm you meet the Kentucky domicile test: A domicile in Kentucky maintained for the full 12 months preceding enrollment, shown through the ordinary markers of permanent residence — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and tax filing.
- Gather the documents the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education asks for — a driver's license, voter registration, vehicle registration and a 12-month record of physical presence are the usual set.
- File the residency classification form with the campus registrar before the term's deadline; classification is decided by the institution, not by the state.
- If you are financially dependent, check whose domicile counts — Kentucky assigns a dependent student the parents' domicile, so the parents must qualify.
Official links
Coming to Kentucky from another state
Direction matters. These cover the exact move into Kentucky at undergraduate level:
All 50 origin states
Leaving Kentucky to study elsewhere
What a Kentucky resident pays in each of the other 50 states:
All 50 destination states
Kentucky at other levels
Asked and answered
›What are the residency requirements for in-state tuition in Kentucky?
A domicile in Kentucky maintained for the full 12 months preceding enrollment, shown through the ordinary markers of permanent residence — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and tax filing. The durational requirement is 12 months, administered by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education under 13 KAR 2:045. Classification is made by the institution you enroll at, not centrally.
›How much is out-of-state tuition in Kentucky?
$34,200 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of Kentucky for 2025–26, against $13,700 for a resident — a gap of $20,500. Rates differ by campus and by college within a campus.
›Which tuition exchange programs does Kentucky belong to?
Kentucky participates in ACM at undergraduate level. Membership is a state-level commitment; each campus then decides whether to offer the program and which majors it opens.
›Can I get in-state tuition in Kentucky after one year of living there?
12 months of domicile is the requirement, but time alone is not enough. You have to show you moved to live in Kentucky rather than to attend college there — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and state tax filing are the evidence campuses ask for. A financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile regardless.
Sources
Every eligibility rule on this page is checked against the operating compact commission or the state's own residency authority. Last verified 2026-08-07.
Tuition figures on this page are compiled 2025–26 published rates (basis: published compiled), rounded to the nearest $100 and refreshed each June. Eligibility rules are checked against the cited compact commission or residency authority.
- Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Kentucky — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- Kentucky Community and Technical College System — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
- University of Kentucky Graduate School — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
How this page was made
Compiled and checked by Billy Reiner, editor of In-State Check. Last verified 2026-08-07.
- Compiled from published rate pages
- The in-state and non-resident figures are tuition and mandatory fees for one full-time year, read from University of Kentucky’s own 2025–26 rate page and rounded to the nearest $100. Housing, books, travel and course-specific differentials are not included in them.
- Checked against the administering body
- Compact membership at this level was checked against the commission that runs the program (SREB). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, 13 KAR 2:045. Nothing here is taken from another comparison site.
Not advice. In-State Check is independent of every college, compact and state agency named here. Residency classification and award decisions are made by the institution you apply to. Found an error? Send the page URL and the source that contradicts it to [email protected], and the page is corrected and re-dated. Full methodology.