BSN programs in Kentucky
15 BSN programs compared on what happens after graduation: first-time NCLEX-RN pass rates, what a year costs, what graduates owe and what they earn.
- 91.5%
- of first-time test-takers from Kentucky BSN programs passed the NCLEX-RN, 2025 (national BSN rate: 87.6%, 2025)
- 15
- programs with at least 20 first-time test-takers over three years, so their pass rate is ranked
- $81,040
- median yearly pay for registered nurses in Kentucky, May 2025 (BLS)
What the data shows
- Spread between programs. Among the 15 programs with at least 20 first-time test-takers, three-year pass rates run from 76.7% (Union Commonwealth University) to 100.0% (Midway University), a gap of 23.3 points.
- Against the national rate. BSN graduates in Kentucky beat the national first-time rate of 87.6% by 3.9 points. Programs here passed 91.5% of 1,228 first-time test-takers in the latest year each reported (2025).
- Lowest net price with an above-average pass rate. Berea College has the lowest average net price ($5,836 a year) of the 10 ranked programs that were at or above the state's pooled pass rate of 92.9%.
- Direction of travel. 3 of 15 programs reported a lower first-time pass rate in their latest year than in their earliest of the three years shown (2023 to 2025 for most).
15 BSN programs ranked by first-time pass rate
Ordered by the pass rate pooled over the program's last three reporting years. The dots show each year, newest in blue; the vertical line marks the Kentucky average for the latest year.
| Program | First-time NCLEX-RN pass rate | Test-takers | Net price a year | Median loan debt | Pay 1 year out | Graduation rate | Accredited by | Online option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midway UniversityMidway, Private | 100.0%2023: 100.0% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 100.0% | 27 | $29,981 | $25,371 | – | 43% | ACEN | Partly |
| Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights, Public | 99.6%2023: 98.9% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 100.0% | 265 | $8,976 | $18,000 | $80,553 | 53% | CCNE | Partly |
| Morehead State UniversityMorehead, Public | 98.3%2023: 100.0% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 95.7% | 121 | $9,912 | $16,173 | $76,775 | 50% | CCNE | Yes |
| Lindsey Wilson UniversityColumbia, Private | 97.6%2023: 90.9% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 100.0% | 42 | $14,300 | $17,966 | $73,198 | 43% | CCNE | No |
| Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond, Public | 97.5%2023: 94.8% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 98.0% | 279 | $11,925 | $20,585 | $77,058 | 50% | CCNE | Partly |
| University of KentuckyLexington, Public | 95.6%2023: 94.2% · 2024: 98.4% · 2025: 94.7% | 842 | $18,868 | $19,500 | $80,628 | 72% | CCNE | Partly |
| Berea CollegeBerea, Private | 95.1%2023: 91.7% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 91.7% | 41 | $5,836 | – | – | 62% | CCNE | No |
| Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green, Public | 95.1%2023: 91.7% · 2024: 97.8% · 2025: 96.4% | 432 | $11,789 | $21,130 | $73,223 | 56% | CCNE | No |
| Murray State UniversityMurray, Public | 94.2%2023: 92.1% · 2024: 98.6% · 2025: 92.1% | 208 | $7,350 | $17,200 | $72,281 | 61% | CCNE | No |
| Bellarmine UniversityLouisville, Private | 93.0%2023: 89.7% · 2024: 94.8% · 2025: 95.3% | 386 | $17,991 | $22,875 | $80,730 | 68% | CCNE | No |
| University of LouisvilleLouisville, Public | 86.1%2023: 91.9% · 2024: 87.0% · 2025: 80.7% | 747 | $14,960 | $20,494 | $75,155 | 61% | CCNE | Partly |
| Thomas More UniversityCrestview Hills, Private | 85.9%2023: 86.4% · 2024: 80.8% · 2025: 93.8% | 64 | $22,723 | $26,000 | $74,496 | 44% | ACEN | No |
| Beckfield College-FlorenceFlorence, For-profit | 85.4%2023: 88.5% · 2024: 91.9% · 2025: 73.1% | 89 | $24,989 | $40,411 | $78,814 | 28% | CCNE | No |
| Spalding UniversityLouisville, Private | 82.1%2023: 76.5% · 2024: 84.2% · 2025: 92.9% | 67 | $24,262 | $19,500 | $77,405 | 49% | CCNE | No |
| Union Commonwealth UniversityBarbourville, Private | 76.7%2023: 77.8% · 2024: 66.7% · 2025: 81.8% | 43 | $11,010 | $15,066 | $73,559 | 36% | CCNE | No |
Pass rates: Kentucky board of nursing (opens in a new tab), calendar. Net price is the College Scorecard's average yearly cost after grants and scholarships for first-time, full-time undergraduates who receive federal aid (in-state price at public schools), and graduation rate covers the whole school. Debt is the median federal loan balance of nursing graduates who borrowed, and pay is the median earnings of graduates who are working one year after finishing (2024 dollars). Accreditation is checked against the ACEN and CCNE directories; a dash means we could not match the program to a listing, which is not the same as being unaccredited, so check with the school. “Partly” under online option means some, but not all, of the school's programs at this level can be finished fully online, such as an RN-to-BSN track. A dash means the figure is not published, often because too few graduates received federal aid.
Other Kentucky schools that award nursing bachelor's degrees
These schools reported nursing graduates to the federal government but do not appear on the board's NCLEX list for this program type. Some offer only an RN-to-BSN completion program for nurses who already hold a license; others are new, or the board lists them under another school.
| School | City | Graduates a year | Net price a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galen College of Nursing-Louisville | Louisville | 1207 | $4,058 |
| University of the Cumberlands | Williamsburg | 88 | $13,885 |
| Kentucky State University | Frankfort | 20 | $17,637 |
| Campbellsville University | Campbellsville | 19 | $17,734 |
| University of Pikeville | Pikeville | 19 | $19,224 |
| Kentucky Christian University | Grayson | 14 | $25,469 |
Nursing in Kentucky: pay, accreditation and next steps
The median registered nurse in Kentucky earned $81,040 in May 2025, which ranks 42nd of 51 states and the District of Columbia, 17% below the national median of $97,550. Nurse practitioners, who need a graduate degree, earned a median of $122,870. Licensed practical nurses earned $60,460. Pay is the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics figure for all employers and settings, and it does not depend on which school you attend. Compare registered nurse pay in Kentucky.
21 of the 21 Kentucky schools that award a nursing bachelor's degree hold programmatic accreditation from ACEN or CCNE (16 CCNE, 5 ACEN). Accreditation matters if you plan to continue to a master's degree, and some employers and federal programs ask for it. See accredited nursing programs in Kentucky.
Next steps: confirm that a program is approved by the Kentucky board of nursing, compare its first-time pass rate with the state figure above, then check net price and graduate debt in the table. For the full licensing process, see how to become a nurse. Programs that work with working nurses are covered in the quickest route to a BSN.
How to read this page
Kentucky lists 15 BSN programs on its board of nursing's published NCLEX results (7 public, 7 private nonprofit and 1for-profit among the 15 we could match to a federal school record). Graduates of a bachelor's degree in nursing program take the NCLEX-RN; programs typically take about 4 years.
Pass rates cover calendar. Boards define a reporting year differently, so compare programs within a state rather than across states. We have not combined these figures into an overall score yet: the full formula on how we rank programs needs every state's data, so for now programs are ordered by pass rate alone. All sources are listed on data sources.
See Kentucky's NCLEX pass rates by program type. See how nursing licensing works.
Common questions
What is the NCLEX pass rate for BSN programs in Kentucky?
91.5% of first-time test-takers from Kentucky BSN programs passed the NCLEX-RN in 2025, compared with 87.6% for BSN programs nationally in 2025.
How many BSN programs are there in Kentucky?
We list 15 BSN programs in Kentucky. 15 have at least 20 first-time test-takers over three years, so their pass rate is ranked.
How are these BSN programs ranked?
Programs are ordered by the first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate pooled over their last three reporting years. Programs with fewer than 20 first-time test-takers are shown but not ranked, because small cohorts swing widely from year to year.
What do registered nurses earn in Kentucky?
The median registered nurse in Kentucky earned $81,040 a year in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.