Frequently Asked Questions

As a transfer student, with a 2.0 GPA and 24 earned credit hours, you can be admitted into the majority of UK's programs of study. However, there are a number of majors that are considered selective, which have slightly higher GPA requirements.

Read about Transfer Admission Requirements

Majors in the Colleges of Business and Economics, Communication and Information, Design, Engineering, Fine Arts, Health Sciences, Nursing, and Public Health are considered selective.

Yes, the Colleges of Design, Fine Arts, and Health Sciences have required additional applications for prospective students. 

College of Design Admissions

College of Fine Arts Admissions

College of Health Sciences Admissions

Apply Online 

Some majors are designated with a Pre- status until you obtain major standing here at UK. If you're having trouble finding your major, try looking in the P section of the alphabetical dropdown menu when you select your major in the online application.

Kentucky residency is evaluated by our Residency Office. You can read more about it on their website or contact them with questions at residency@uky.edu.

We will accept both hard-copy official transcripts as well as digital copies, provided that they are sent to us by the institution that you previously attended and are indeed official copies. You can send digital transcripts to admissions@uky.edu and hard-copy transcripts can be addressed to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 100 Funkhouser Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0054.

You can check your application status by logging into the online application and clicking the Check Status link under the Submitted Online Applications header.

You will receive a letter in the mail regarding your admission decision about three to four weeks after we receive your application and supporting documents.

You will confirm your acceptance offer by registering to attend a “see blue” U. Orientation. Once you receive your acceptance packet in the mail, you can follow the instructions included within it to set up your myUK account and choose an orientation date.

You can sign up for your Big Blue Nation Orientation via myUK, and there are additional instructions in your acceptance packet. Attendance is required for all students, save summer non-degree students and military-affiliated students with verifiable orders that interfere with the orientation dates. You'll sit down with your academic advisor and schedule your first semester of classes here at UK at your Big Blue Nation Orientation, and you don't want to miss out on that!

orientation.uky.edu

You will be able to register for classes with the help of your college advisor at your Big Blue Nation Orientation. After your first semester, you will be able to register for classes with the rest of the student population. 

The application fee is required to process your application. However, there are opportunities for free applications at certain recruitment events and on Transfer Tuesdays.

If you hold a current US visa or will need to apply for one, complete the international application here. All other prospective students will complete the domestic application. Once your admission officer receives and reviews your application, they will email you a list of needed items.

You can transfer with any number of credit hours earned after high school graduation. If you have 24 or more earned credit hours, we will only require a transcript from each college or university you have previously attended. If you have 23 or fewer earned credit hours, we will also need your high school transcript and your ACT/SAT scores in addition to your college transcript(s). You can find more information about this on our Transfer Requirements page.

We will not be able to accept ACT or SAT scores that are more than five years old. If your scores are more than five years old, you will either need to retake the ACT or SAT, or attend a community college until you have earned at least 24 credit hours.

Unlike ACT/SAT scores, AP scores do not expire! Please see the CollegeBoard’s AP website for information regarding their maintenance of AP records.

While it is difficult to know exactly how your credits will transfer unless you've applied, your college academic advisor will be able to give you a better forecast of your degree progress, which often depends on course availability and pre-requisites. For a general summary of the courses you will have left to complete, a transfer advisor can assist you in an advising appointment.

The course catalog is housed by the UK Registrar. You can find a full list of yearly course offerings here, and if you're curious about specific semester offerings, contact the Registrar here.

UK does offer online classes. Semester offerings can be found in the course catalog maintained by the Registrar. 

UK offers over 200+ undergraduate degrees in a variety of disciplines including STEM, business, healthcare, the humanities, arts and design, education, and the social sciences. The Registrar houses a complete index of UK majors and minors here. If you're unsure of what might be the right major for you, contact a transfer advisor for guidance.

While in the process of transferring or completing coursework through other institutions, a UK Transfer Advisor will serve as your resource. The transfer advisors are divided by regions for in-state transfer students and by the alphabetical order of your last name for out-of-state transfer students. You can find your dedicated transfer advisor here. 

Advising holds are lifted automatically for new students during their Big Blue Nation Orientation, where you will meet with a college academic advisor and schedule your first semester of classes. 

GETA is the Kentucky statewide General Education Transfer Policy is an agreement between all Kentucky public institutions that facilitates the transfer of general education coursework. Eligible students can be certified in up to five categories from their previous institution to complete the corresponding categories at UK. Check out the detailed GETA breakdown on our Transfer Requirements page.

UK accepts up to 67 hours of college-level credit from two-year institutions and an unlimited number of college-level credits from four-year institutions. So, yes! Your credits will be processed and matched to UK courses with the help of an Equivalency Officer and a UK Transfer Advisor can help you understand how those credits might apply to your intended degree or which degree might incorporate the most of your past work.

UK does accept dual credit issued from accredited higher-learning institutions. If you took college-level classes in high school, the college or university that awarded this credit must send a transcript for it to be added to your UK record. Dual-credit coursework can not be accepted from only a high-school transcript.

UK has very limited opportunities for high school students to earn UK credit as part of their high school coursework. However, a UK Transfer Advisor can help dual-credit students determine which classes offered by other universities may transfer to UK as required coursework.

You can check your transfer credits in one of two ways, and both are accessed from myUK: your myUK GPS degree audit and your UK unofficial transcript.

• To access your degree audit, click the Student Services tab in myUK, followed by the Degree Planning and Registration (myUKGPS) subtab. This will show you how your previous coursework applies to your UK major, and you'll also register for classes in this system at your "see blue." U Orientation.
• To access your unofficial transcript, click the Student Services tab in myUK, followed by the myRecords subtab and the Unofficial Transcript link in the sidebar. This view will show you how your credits transfer in a line-by-line fashion.

Once you have received your admission packet in the mail, it will likely take around two weeks for your transfer coursework to be added to your student record. Our office processes transfer coursework in the order it was received, so if it's not currently appearing on your UK unofficial transcript, that doesn't mean that none of your coursework will transfer. Rather, we just have not had a chance to process it on our end yet!

College transcripts can usually be obtained from the Student Records Office or Registrar's Office from your current (and previous) institutions. There is usually a small fee associated with the request. Official transcripts can be sent electronically from the aforementioned offices directly to admission@uky.edu or in a sealed envelope to UK's Office of Undergraduate Admission, 100 Funkhouser Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0054.

Unfortunately, we can't do that. You will need to submit documentation from whichever institution supplies the credential. This means contacting (or accessing electronically) services like ACT, College Board, or whichever college/university is responsible for your previous college credit.

Yes, we have to see all of your college work from the school that actually gave it to you.

Yes! We offer academic scholarships to transfer students with a minimum 3.0 GPA and at least 24 college-level credit hours. We also offer competitive transfer scholarships with their own unique requirments. You can read more about our transfer scholarship opportunities here.

Tuition to UK, like most public universities, can fluctuate from year to year. You can look at tuition details for the current year here. It's also important to note that the "sticker price" for tuition is not often what you would wind up paying. Financial aid and scholarship opportunities can play a large role in the final amount due. Feel free to contact a Financial Aid Counselor with questions. If you have not been admitted, then Lexie Foellger will be able to help you.

A KCTCS degree does not guarantee a tuition adjustment to other Kentucky public institution. However, UK does offer a competitive scholarship opportunity that meets the difference between in-state KCTCS tuition and in-state UK tuition. Read more about the Trustees Scholarship here.

The short answer is that it depends on your specific situation. You have a five-year window from when you first graduate from high school to use your KEES money, plus you will have needed to maintain Kentucky residency during your tenure at your previous institution in addition to not yet having received a bachelor's degree. If you meet all of these requirements, your KEES money can still be used here at UK. If you have additional questions about KEES, please contact the Office of Student Financial Aid.

No, you do not have to live on-campus (no matter how far away your family lives or how many credit hours you have). However, you can if you would like. Learn more by visiting UK Housing's website. If you would prefer to live off-campus, we have support services for you too. Our Office of Off-Campus Student Services can help you learn more about the ins-and-outs of living off-campus. 

Your parking options will depend on your on/off campus status. Students who live in the residence halls may have access to resident lots and commuter students may have access to commuter lots depending on availability. You can learn more about parking options and permit costs on UK Transportation's website.

You will receive instructions in your acceptance packet, and you can also follow the setup wizard at newstudent.uky.edu.

That communication error message generally means that there is some type of personal information in the password you're attempting to use, which the system is not accepting. This can include parts of your name, your birthday, your address or any other personal identifying information. Try using a different password, and if that still doesn't work, contact UK ITS at 859-218-HELP (4357) or 218help@uky.edu.

There are no age restrictions for our residence halls, so yes! UK Housing will be able to help you find a suitable roommate if you don’t already have one in mind.

UK is surrounded by places to eat and has many restaurant options incorporated into campus. UK Dining also offers meal plans to utilize the “all you care to eat” options in the campus dining halls. Read more about UK Dining as an on-campus and commuter student here.

• Welcome! We have an entire office dedicated to helping you succeed here at UK. Click here for more on the Veterans Resource Center.

Project Graduate is a Kentucky-wide initiative to assist adult learners with 80 or more earned credit hours to return to school and finish their first bachelor's degree. You can find more information, including program benefits and contact information, here.

• We're excited to have you back! Check out our Readmitted Students page for more information on how to continue your college career at UK.

We do! The BCTCBlue+ program is designed for BCTC students who intend to complete an Associate in Arts or Science (AA or AS) degree and then transfer to UK. The program will allow you to take up to 12 credit hours of pre-major or major coursework at UK for BCTC prices while simultaneously pursuing your AA or AS degree at BCTC. You can find more information on the program on BCTC's website here or by contacting the program coordinator, Kelsey Carew, at kelsey.carew@uky.edu.

Nope! Transfer students are only students who have attended another institution after graduating high school, so if you only have dual-credit coursework, you'll still be applying as a first-time freshman. Just make sure you send the Office of Undergraduate Admission a copy of your official transcript from your dual-credit institution so we can add that coursework to your UK student record.

Great question! The UK Office of Human Resources here at UK has an FAQ page that covers all the basics. You will need to start the process by applying to UK via our online application and filling out the EEP Tuition Waiver Form.

You can sign up for a University tour through the Visitor Center website. You can also contact your academic college directly to schedule a Program Tour. Additionally, we have transfer-student-specific tours offered as part of our Transfer Visit Days.

Lexington is a great city with plenty of opportunities to try new things or connect to current interests. The city’s tourism website, VisitLex.com, is a good way to find out more information.

Contact the Office of Undergraduate Admission (859-257-2000) or UKTransfer@uky.edu: We'll help you get the answers you need!