State and Student Support

State Appropriations

Kentucky's Performance Funding Model continues to reward outcomes aligned with statewide workforce and educational attainment goals.

For FY 2026-27, UK's performance funding allocation increased by approximately $3.1 million, reaching $44.3 million.

The university exceeded sector-average growth in eight of the model's eleven metrics, tying for the highest performance among Kentucky's public universities.
Since the model's adoption in 2017, UK has consistently demonstrated strong performance by increasing degree production, student success measures and instructional activity while serving a growing student population.

At the same time, UK remains mindful that performance funding allocations are earned annually and are therefore subject to future performance outcomes and legislative funding decisions.

In Fall 2026, a Postsecondary Education Work Group was tasked with reviewing and making recommendations for changes to the performance funding model impacting FY28 and beyond.

Student Affordability

On March 31, 2023, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) adopted resident undergraduate tuition and mandatory fee increase ceilings for academic years (AY) 2023-24 and 2024-25 of no more than 5.0 percent and a maximum increase of no more than 3.0 percent in any one year.

CPE also adopted a recommendation that the public institutions be allowed to submit for CPE review and approval market competitive tuition and fee rates for graduate and online courses, as well as tuition and fee rates for nonresident undergraduate students that comply with CPE policy.

The CPE policy states that every institution shall manage its tuition and fee rate structures, price discounting, and scholarship aid for out-of-state students, such that in any given year, the average net tuition and fee revenue generated per nonresident undergraduate student equals or exceeds 130 percent of the annual full-time tuition and fees assessed to resident undergraduate students.