Students at the University of Kentucky will be paying more in the 2025-26 school year than years prior following a number of budget approvals.
The university has increased the price of tuition and mandatory fees as well as basketball and football student tickets.
In June of this year, UK’s Board of Trustees approved a 3% increase in tuition and mandatory fees for the upcoming academic year, marking the second consecutive increase.
In-state, full-time, undergraduate students paid $6,751 in tuition and mandatory fees each semester before FAFSA, grants and scholarships were applied during the 2024-25 year, according to UK. Out-of-state, full-time, undergraduate students paid $17,070.
Following the 3% increase, in-state, full-time, undergraduate students will owe $6,953.50 in tuition and mandatory fees before scholarships for the 2025-26 year. Out-of-state, full-time, undergraduate students will now be charged $17,582.50.
An undergraduate student is considered full-time when they are enrolled in a minimum of 12 credits. Part-time students, enrolled in nine credits or less, pay per credit hour taken.
In the 2024-25 academic year, in-state students paid $553 per credit hour and out-of-state students paid $1,364.50 per credit hour. According to the 2025-26 tuition and mandatory fees schedule, each semester of the academic year, part-time students will be charged $570.50 in-state and $1,455.50 out-of-state per credit hour.
In April of 2025, tuition and mandatory fee ceilings were approved barring an increase of more than 5% by the end of the 2026-27 academic year. This ceiling also prevents tuition and mandatory fees from being increased by more than 3.3% in a single year.
Tuition and mandatory fees have been on a steady increase for years. Some students who may be gearing up for their senior year at UK after arriving on campus in 2022 have seen an average of an 8.6% increase in tuition and mandatory fees during their time at UK, according to the university’s academic year tuition and mandatory fees schedules.
In addition to increased tuition and fees, student sporting event ticket pricing also increased for the 2025-26 school year.
For the 2025 football season, student season passes cost $145. This is a 61% increase from the 2024 season pass price of $90, according to WKYT.
Season pass prices have increased 72% for Mark Pope’s second season as the UK men’s basketball’s head coach from $200 a pass to $345.
Single game tickets, while prices range, have increased from costing between $11 and $20, to anywhere between $15 and $40. At a minimum, single game ticket prices increased by 36%.
Although tuition and mandatory fees and student sports season passes are being increased, parking pass costs remain the same.
According to UKNow, most residential permits cost $504 for the year, the same as they did for the last two school years. Residential periphery parking (RK) costs $272 for the year, but can be bought per semester for $136. Remote parking permits cost $168.
