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Penny Cox,
Treasurer
Learn about University of Kentucky, including Featured News, Key Projects, The Team, and Outstanding UK Debt.
The University of Kentucky has a broad range of resources centered on a single campus in the heart of the Bluegrass. Our wide array of programs allows us to excel in multidisciplinary studies and fosters an environment of cooperative engagement across all colleges, programs, and research endeavors. Because of the lives we touch and teach, we remain anchored in our mission to Kentucky– to educate, innovate, heal, and serve. To be sure, our complex, multi-faceted mission looks different today in many ways than it did in 1865. However, our sense of responsibility to our communities on campus and across the region is resolute. The mission has evolved and grown. The vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world beyond remains the same. They remain our compass – the soul of the University of Kentucky.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 23, 2024) — The University of Kentucky climbed several spots in national higher education rankings for research and development (R&D) expenditures.
Based on UK’s $476.5 million in research expenditures – the funds the university spent to conduct research in fiscal year 2022, as reported to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics:
Vice President for Research Lisa Cassis said, “It is incredibly challenging to move up in these national rankings on research and development expenditures. The University of Kentucky’s research enterprise has experienced record growth, but that growth, and related elevation in national ranking, starts with our principal investigators who work across academic boundaries to bring the best ideas to light. This is a testament to the creativity and innovation of the faculty, staff and students who make up our research investigator community at UK. Their tireless work continues to propel the university forward.”
The FY22 rankings were released in December 2023. The National Science Foundation (NSF), through the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), publishes the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey each year ranking the top U.S. universities according to what they spend on research. The HERD survey is considered to be the primary source of information on R&D expenditures within academia. For more information, see NSF Publications & Data.
For more on UK research, see Stats & Rankings.
_As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus. _
_In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky. _
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 27, 2023) — The University of Kentucky, along with donors and community partners, celebrated the achievement Friday of the $2.1 billion goal for Kentucky Can: The 21st Century Campaign — the largest fundraising campaign in the Commonwealth’s history.
Donors, alumni, faculty, staff and administrators gathered in UK’s Gatton Student Center to recognize the success of the campaign and its meaning for the Commonwealth. Current UK undergraduates Chloe Kellom, Jason Marcus and Laurel Riggs served as emcees for the event, telling the story of how the Kentucky Can efforts already have transformed the lives of students.
The comprehensive campaign focused on raising support to fuel all parts of the institution’s mission: education, research, service and care.
Since the launch of Kentucky Can in 2018, the university has created opportunities for students through scholarships, conducted world-class research to address the state’s most challenging issues and helped build healthier communities across the Commonwealth.
“When we embarked on this campaign, we recognized with both humility and fortitude that these efforts would help write the next chapter for this university and the communities it uplifts,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “That is our north star — to advance Kentucky. This campaign fuels those efforts; it always has been about empowering the incredible talent and impassioned hearts on our campus, so determined and equipped to build a better future for the Commonwealth.”
Throughout the evening, attendees were reminded of a simple but crucial message: although the campaign reached its conclusion, the work is only beginning.
“This campaign demonstrated the grace, grit and vision that define this community,” said Jake Lemon, UK’s vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement. “That same unwavering commitment to advancing Kentucky will fuel our next chapter, as we have more lives to touch and more communities to serve. This is only the beginning.”
It is a beginning that has garnered widespread participation and engagement.
More than 162,500 unique donors have contributed to Kentucky Can. Broken out, this number includes nearly 71,000 UK alumni (including nearly 22,000 new alumni) and represents supporters from all 120 Kentucky counties, all 50 states and 50 countries from around the globe. And more than half of these supporters made their first gift to UK during the last five years of the public campaign.
Support from these donors can be seen across campus, impacting every student, faculty and staff member, as well as the Kentucky communities the university serves.
The impact is especially evident in the following three areas:
Student access and success
One of the campaign’s most significant impacts has been increasing student access to higher education and cultivating Kentucky’s best and brightest minds. More than 53,500 donors contributed to student support as part of Kentucky Can, giving more than $495 million to support students with financial needs.
By providing scholarships to students who need them most, the university has been able to recruit, retain and graduate more students. This includes first-generation college students — the first in their families to attend and graduate college — who account for 25% of all UK students. More than $26.9 million in donor funds were awarded to first-generation students during the entirety of the campaign.
The university also launched UK LEADS — a nationally-recognized program — to reduce unmet financial need by using data-informed analytics to better understand the impact of financial need on student success. In all, more than $24.5 million has been raised by donors to support the LEADS program, with more than 1,500 LEADS scholarships awarded to students.
With the support of these scholarships and programs made possible through Kentucky Can, UK, for the first time in its history, marked a six-year graduation rate of 70% this fall, placing the institution among the top 20% of universities in the country.
“We often describe our success in numbers,” Capilouto said. “But it is important to remember that those numbers represent lives — lives that have been transformed by the attainment of a college degree. They are lives that build up the workforce Kentucky so desperately needs. They are our brothers and sisters who will use their education to serve communities across our Commonwealth.”
Stability and prestige
UK continues to attract and retain the finest faculty and establish state-of-the-art facilities and programs, enhancing the university’s academic standing and overall campus experiences.
Kentucky Can has raised more than $559 million to support faculty endowments and academic programs, which are critical to students’ experiences while earning their degrees.
Additionally, the campaign was designed to inspire collaboration among academic colleges and disciplines. This transdisciplinary approach to education, research and service is central to both the campaign and the university’s mission of advancing Kentucky. This is evident through UK’s health care enterprise, where UK’s world-class faculty and researchers are helping treat more patients, ensuring clinical excellence and providing advanced, sub-specialty care to the Commonwealth.
More than $4 billion has also been invested in infrastructure across the campus — including more than 8 million square feet of new and renovated construction. Philanthropic support has significantly helped UK in taking creative approaches to make these infrastructure improvements over the last several years, holding down costs and increasing access.
These investments — made both in the physical transformation of campus and in endowments for named colleges, departments and professorships (including the historic gifts to the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering) — further drive UK in attracting, retaining and graduating more students.
And it’s just the beginning. With state and community support, UK is planning for the construction of even more facilities, including a $380 million Health Education Building, announced today, which is scheduled to be completed in 2027.
These investments continue to set the foundation for UK’s students, faculty and staff to achieve greatly.
Innovation and impact
Research at UK has incredible momentum. In fiscal year 2023, grant and contract awards totaled $479.3 million — a record high. By fostering innovation and advancing interdisciplinary research, UK faculty, staff, providers and even students are rendering world-class care and developing solutions to improve the lives of all Kentuckians. Kentucky Can has played a critical role in supporting UK’s research mission, from health care to industry and workforce development. By endowing chairs and professorships, philanthropic donors are helping UK attract and retain top researchers who are contributing to fields that matter most to Kentucky, represented in UK’s eight Research Priority Areas — cancer; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes and obesity; equity; energy; materials science; neuroscience; and substance use disorders.
For example, philanthropy is vital to UK’s Markey Cancer Center, as donors were key players in the center’s 10-year effort to achieve Comprehensive Cancer Center status, the National Cancer Institute’s top designation.
At the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, philanthropic gifts enabled the center to expand their capabilities with a multi-photon microscope, allowing researchers to see nuances of how the brain functions, offering new insights into devastating diseases like Alzheimer’s. Sanders-Brown was then able to leverage this gift to attract more than $35 million in grant money from the National Institutes for Health — a huge return on an investment.
Support for UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research has given undergraduate researchers a distinctive opportunity to explore their own research ideas and receive entrepreneurial mentorship through the Lee T. Todd, Jr. Student Innovation Scholarship.
The first student to receive this scholarship, Lucas Bertucci, not only had the chance to conduct groundbreaking research, but helped launch a new Kentucky company, Verdant Beneficiated Resources, which is working to recycle solar panels. Verdant is hoping to build a new industry here in Kentucky and employ a new generation of Kentuckians.
And the new James B. Beam Institute is educating the next generation of distillers, providing hands-on training and research in a variety of fields, including marketing, horticulture, hospitality, law, science, engineering, creative writing and business. The institute's cooperation across disciplines, with faculty and philanthropic support, allows it to be a one-stop shop for a Kentucky industry seeking both UK talent and sustainable solutions.
Just The Beginning
As the celebration Friday marked the conclusion of the _Kentucky Can _campaign, it marked the beginning of a new chapter. Lemon invited the community to envision, together, what the next chapter may entail.
“There is a great deal of power in the question, ‘what’s next?’” Lemon said. “Imagine the impact of continuing our trajectory of scholarship support. After all, Kentucky is welcoming incredible economic opportunity and billions in investments. But to continue that pipeline of opportunity, our state must significantly increase its skilled and educated workforce. Imagine how many lives can be changed by equipping the next generation with financial literacy and a head start on investing in their own futures, through programs like ‘UK Invests.’ Imagine the difference we can make in the health outcomes of our citizens if we continue leading the way in training more new medical professionals and in providing advanced sub-specialty care that offers healing and hope. Imagine the solutions we can develop by further investing in our researchers who are on the cutting-edge of discovery. Our friends and partners are committed to helping us build this future for Kentucky.”
Lemon, who became vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement in May 2023, will lead the institution’s efforts in developing this next chapter, in alignment with the university’s strategic plan.
“I invite everyone — with bold aspirations and steadfast belief in the power of this place — to join me in asking ourselves one question, what’s next?”
For more information about Kentucky Can and UK Philanthropy visit https://kentuckycan.uky.edu/your-gifts-at-work/kentucky-can.
_As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus. _
_In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky. _
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 15, 2023) — University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto on Friday announced that UK has reached a historic milestone of a 70 percent six-year graduation rate – a figure placing the institution among the best in the country.
The graduation rate details were part of a report on enrollment that Capilouto gave members of the UK Board of Trustees during their September meeting. The enrollment report included several other historic firsts, including a record first-year class of almost 6,500 students and overall, more than 34,000 students enrolled on the campus for the first time ever, according to preliminary figures.
“Over the last decade, because of the work of thousands of faculty and staff and the commitment and capacity of our students, we have rapidly accelerated the success rate of students – even as we continued to grow enrollment. Kentucky is rightly demanding of us a larger and even more skilled workforce to meet the needs of a complex and competitive economy,” Capilouto told board members. “To do that, we must educate and graduate even more students, in fields responsive to local and global workforce needs – students who have the skills to solve problems, work in teams, communicate effectively and think deeply and broadly about challenges.”
Other highlights of Capilouto’s preliminary enrollment report included:
Six-year graduation rates have increased by more than 12 percentage points since the class of 2010; four-year graduation rates have increased by 27 percentage points in that same time and five-year rates have increased by 17 percentage points.
The 70% graduation rate, according to the most recent data, places UK among the top 100 public institutions in the country that grant primarily bachelor’s degrees or higher.
Second fall retention – the success rate for students returning for their second year of college – also reached a record level of 87 percent, according to preliminary numbers.
Nearly 6,500 first-year students are enrolled at UK this fall, about 400 more than last year. UK’s first-year enrollment exceeds 6,000 for the second year in a row. In fall 2010, the first-year enrollment was a little more than 4,300.
Overall, UK has grown from a little more than 28,000 students in fall 2010 to more than 34,000 in fall 2023; UK also has more than 24,000 undergraduates for the first time.
Nearly 17 percent of students enrolled are from underrepresented populations, an increase in both number and percentage over last year. This continues an upward trend in underrepresented student enrollment that has produced more than 1,400 credentials earned by students of color in 2022-23, a 251 percent increase since 2010-11. In addition, nearly 19 percent of UK’s first-year students are from underrepresented populations.
Additionally, about 25 percent of first-year students are “first gen” students – meaning they will be the first in their families to graduate from college, a number that continues to increase as well.
“At UK, we work every day to model a community where everyone belongs and everyone feels accepted for who they are and what they, uniquely, contribute to this place,” Capilouto said.
“Kentucky needs more – more from us and with us to build a stronger state with a brighter future … We must, and I believe we will, find ways to do and be even more for Kentucky.”
Details of Capilouto’s preliminary enrollment report can be found here.
_As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus. _
_In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky. _
Debt and Liquidity Senior Director
Debt and Liquidity Analyst
The University of Kentucky primarily issues General Receipts Bonds. These bonds are secured by a general receipts pledge, as defined below. The total pledged revenues for FY 23 were $4.3B.
"General Receipts" means:
(a) certain operating and non-operating revenues of the University, being (i) Student Registration Fees, (ii) nongovernmental grants and contracts, (iii) recoveries of facilities and administrative costs, (iv) sales and services, (v) Hospital Revenues, (vi) Housing and Dining Revenues, (vii) auxiliary enterprises – other auxiliaries, (viii) auxiliary enterprises – athletics, (ix) other operating revenues, (x) state appropriations (for general operations), (xi) gifts and grants, (xii) investment income, (xiii) other nonoperating revenues, and (xiv) other;
(b) but excluding (i) any receipts described in clause (a) which are contracts, grants, gifts, donations or pledges and receipts therefrom which, under restrictions imposed in such contracts, grants, gifts, donations or pledges, or, which as a condition of the receipt thereof or of amounts payable thereunder are not available for payment of Debt Service Charges, (ii) federal grants and contracts, (iii) state and local grants and contracts, (iv) federal appropriations, (v) county appropriations, (vi) professional clinical service fees, (vii) capital appropriations, (viii) capital grants and gifts, and (ix) additions to permanent endowments, including research challenge trust funds.
*General receipts debt includes the 2019A&B Certificates of Participation which have a subordinate general receipts pledge.
**The 2010 QECB's have a balloon payment of $12,955,000 coming due in 2025 and is reflected in the Annual Debt Service graph above.