University of Louisville

Overview

Rankings

• #2 Best Education Colleges in Kentucky
• #2 Best Criminal Justice Colleges in Kentucky
• #4 Best Bachelor's Programs in Kentucky
• #4 Best Master's Programs in Kentucky
• #5 Best Online Colleges in Kentucky
• #5 Best Nursing Colleges in Kentucky
• #5 Best Biology Colleges in Kentucky
• #6 Best Colleges in Kentucky

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into University of Louisville? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

As a public institution in Louisville, Kentucky, University of Louisville admits most of the students who apply; the acceptance rate is roughly 79%. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,150. The graduation rate is roughly 61%.

Acceptance Rate

79%

Retention Rate

81%

SAT Average

1150

ACT Midpoint

24

SAT Range

1040–1270

ACT Range

19–27

Full-Time Faculty

59%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$9,671

Student–Faculty Ratio

13:1

Diversity Index

0.59

First-Gen Students

30%

Applicants

15,462

Admitted

12,608

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2024-25

The acceptance rate tells you how hard University of Louisville is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 25% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school many admits weigh against other offers.

Yield Rate

25%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

18%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

85%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend University of Louisville? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at University of Louisville is $29,482, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $17,988. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $15,138 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $20,500 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$13,136

Out-of-State

$29,482

Avg Net Price

$17,988

Median Debt

$20,500

Pell Grant Rate

31%

Federal Loan Rate

28%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at University of Louisville — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is University of Louisville Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of University of Louisville earn a median of $53,899, roughly in line with the national average for college graduates.

6 Years After Entry

$46,571

8 Years

$51,032

10 Years

$53,899

Debt-to-Earnings

0.38x

Earning > $25K

69%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does University of Louisville Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

University of Louisville is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.23%, well above the typical college. About 7.5% of students come from families in the bottom income quintile. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 16.5% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $87,400, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.23%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

16.5%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

7.5%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$118,746

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is University of Louisville? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at University of Louisville. Its economic connectedness score is 1.45, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (0.05), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 9% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.45

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.05

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

9.4%

Support Ratio

0.99

Community support

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

Patents, inventors, and research influence · Opportunity Insights & Times Higher Education

University of Louisville produces inventors at a measurable rate, with 65 patents tied to its graduates.

Inventor Rate

0.39%

Top 56% nationally

Patents Produced

65

Linked to graduates

Patent Citations

52

Downstream influence

Inventors From Low-Income

0.37%

Bottom-20% families

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Investment Income

$-495,000

Top Programs

The fields University of Louisville awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 15% $74,862 early-career
• Health Professions 13% $69,229 early-career
• Education 10% $55,689 early-career
• Engineering 10% $92,340 early-career
• Psychology 8% $36,304 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 6% $35,271 early-career
• Social Sciences 5% $39,967 early-career
• Criminal Justice 5% $43,737 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.