State profile · KY · Clery Act

Safest Colleges in Kentucky

Federal Clery Act filings for all 84 tracked Kentucky campuses, ranked by 2024 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 students. Among nonzero reporters, University of the Cumberlands currently has the lowest rate.

84
Institutions tracked
3.45
Avg campus rate / 1k (84 of 84 scored)
3.13
Statewide rate / 1k
#48
Rank by avg campus rate
288,524
Students enrolled

Among nonzero Clery reporters, University of the Cumberlands has the lowest rate in Kentucky

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery Act filings, across 84 tracked campuses in Kentucky, 52 reported zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents used in the rate; among campuses with any in those categories, University of the Cumberlands has the lowest rate at 0.09 per 1,000 students. This comparison excludes other Clery tables and unreported harm, so review the details before drawing a safety conclusion.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

campuses tracked
84
average campus, per 1,000 (84 of 84 scored)
3.45
lowest nonzero rate - University of the
0.09
campuses at zero in score categories
52

Data updated August 2026

Clery Act plate

Sheet KY · Kentucky 3.45/1k campus avg · #48/59

RATE-MID · RANK-BOTTOM · BELOW-PEER · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID

  • RATE-MID 3.45/1k
  • RANK-BOTTOM #48/59
  • BELOW-PEER Minnesota · 0.28 back
  • ZERO-HEAVY 62% zero
  • WT-SMALL-HOT Δ +0.32
  • BOOK-FULL 84/84
  • CONC-MID top5 39%

Nearest campus-rate peer: Minnesota (+0.28/1k)

Kentucky sheet RATE-MID · RANK-BOTTOM · BELOW-PEER · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID · peer Minnesota. Codes from this state’s OPE Campus Safety filing: unweighted campus rate, corpus rank (low = safer), photo-finish peer state, zero-report share, campus-vs-weighted gap, scored book, top-five enrollment concentration. Not a moving recommendation.

Clery plate RATE-MID · RANK-BOTTOM · BELOW-PEER · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID. Nearest unweighted-rate peer is Minnesota (+0.28/1k). Among nonzero reporters inside the state, University of the Cumberlands leads at 0.09/1k. Instrument codes from this state's OPE Campus Safety sheet; compare similarly sized campuses before treating any single rate as decisive.

Most scored campuses in Kentucky (52 of 84) reported zero in the 2024 score categories and stay unranked against each other. Among the nonzero reporters, University of the Cumberlands leads at 0.09/1k, then Gateway Community and Technical College (0.19/1k); Thomas More University (0.43/1k). A high zero share is a filing pattern, not a proof that campuses are safer.

Campus-rate neighbourhood around Kentucky

Lowest/highest poles plus states nearest Kentucky on unweighted average campus Clery rate. Full ladder: /rankings/.

per 1,000 students

What this shows Neighbourhood of scored states around Kentucky's 3.45/1k unweighted campus average, not a full 50-state board reprint.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey (Clery Act) As of 2024

Safest colleges in Kentucky, ranked by reported rate

Ranked from the lowest 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate upward, counting only the 32 Kentucky campuses with at least one incident in those score categories. Positions are numbered within that group, because a rank counted through the zero-score campuses below would order them by nothing.

26
Berea CollegeBerea · 1,527 students
Enrollment
1,527
Incidents /1k
7.86
29
Centre CollegeDanville · 1,404 students
Enrollment
1,404
Incidents /1k
10.68
#CampusEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1University of the CumberlandsWilliamsburg · 22,120 students22,1200.094% of the leader · rank #1
2Gateway Community and Technical CollegeFlorence · 5,320 students5,3200.194% of the leader · rank #2
3Thomas More UniversityCrestview Hills · 2,350 students2,3500.434% of the leader · rank #3
4Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical CollegeBowling Green · 5,825 students5,8250.524% of the leader · rank #4
5Campbellsville UniversityCampbellsville · 10,836 students10,8360.554% of the leader · rank #5
6Jefferson Community and Technical CollegeLouisville · 13,429 students13,4290.604% of the leader · rank #6
7Georgetown CollegeGeorgetown · 1,345 students1,3450.744% of the leader · rank #7
8Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights · 15,347 students15,3470.854% of the leader · rank #8
9Morehead State UniversityMorehead · 8,791 students8,7910.914% of the leader · rank #9
10Midway UniversityMidway · 2,003 students2,0031.004% of the leader · rank #10
11University of PikevillePikeville · 2,547 students2,5471.184% of the leader · rank #11
12Lindsey Wilson CollegeColumbia · 4,193 students4,1931.434% of the leader · rank #12
13Alice Lloyd CollegePippa Passes · 589 students5891.704% of the leader · rank #13
14Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond · 15,673 students15,6732.174% of the leader · rank #14
15American National University-PikevillePikeville · 444 students4442.254% of the leader · rank #15
16Asbury Theological SeminaryWilmore · 1,689 students1,6892.374% of the leader · rank #16
17Murray State UniversityMurray · 10,020 students10,0202.594% of the leader · rank #17
18Transylvania UniversityLexington · 1,006 students1,0062.984% of the leader · rank #18
19Bellarmine UniversityLouisville · 2,886 students2,8863.814% of the leader · rank #19
20Simmons College of KentuckyLouisville · 506 students5063.954% of the leader · rank #20
21Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green · 16,291 students16,2914.244% of the leader · rank #21
22Kentucky State UniversityFrankfort · 2,020 students2,0204.464% of the leader · rank #22
23Spalding UniversityLouisville · 1,553 students1,5535.154% of the leader · rank #23
24Kentucky Christian UniversityGrayson · 550 students5507.275% of the leader · rank #24
25University of LouisvilleLouisville · 23,065 students23,0657.595% of the leader · rank #25
26Berea CollegeBerea · 1,527 students1,5277.865% of the leader · rank #26
27University of KentuckyLexington · 34,709 students34,7098.535% of the leader · rank #27
28Brescia UniversityOwensboro · 690 students6908.705% of the leader · rank #28
29Centre CollegeDanville · 1,404 students1,40410.687% of the leader · rank #29
30Bluegrass Community and Technical CollegeLexington · 12,965 students12,96512.348% of the leader · rank #30
31Clear Creek Baptist Bible CollegePineville · 183 students18321.8614% of the leader · rank #31
32Edge Academy of BeautyManchester · 56 students56160.71100% of the leader · rank #32

Unranked campuses (52): zero score or no normalized rate

52 filed zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents in the score categories; other Clery tables can still contain reports. Neither group supports a safety ordering, so these campuses are listed alphabetically without positions. Showing 15 alphabetically; the remaining 37 stay out of this HTML table so large states stay crawlable.

ATA CollegeLouisville · 363 students
Enrollment
363
Incidents /1k
0.00
#CampusEnrollmentIncidents /1k
American College of BarberingLouisville · 84 students840.00
Appalachian Beauty SchoolBelfry · 49 students490.00
Asbury UniversityWilmore · 2,100 students2,1000.00
Ashland Community and Technical CollegeAshland · 2,552 students2,5520.00
ATA CollegeLouisville · 363 students3630.00
Beckfield College-FlorenceFlorence · 536 students5360.00
Berea Beauty AcademyBerea · 40 students400.00
Big Sandy Community and Technical CollegePrestonsburg · 2,618 students2,6180.00
Brighton Center's Center for Employment TrainingNewport · 53 students530.00
Elizabethtown Community and Technical CollegeElizabethtown · 6,420 students6,4200.00
Empire Beauty School-ChenowethLouisville · 100 students1000.00
Empire Beauty School-DixieLouisville · 119 students1190.00
Empire Beauty School-ElizabethtownElizabethtown · 171 students1710.00
Empire Beauty School-FlorenceFlorence · 124 students1240.00
Employment Solutions-College for Technical EducationLexington · 203 students2030.00

Open any remaining campus from the school directory or the incident tool.

The largest universities in Kentucky by enrollment

Enrollment leaders: University of Kentucky (34,709); University of Louisville (23,065); University of the Cumberlands (22,120), then 81 more. The 15 biggest Kentucky institutions by total enrolled students, from the same federal IPEDS collection, each shown with its 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate. The five largest alone account for 39% of the 288,524 students enrolled across all 84 tracked Kentucky institutions. Mid-pack by size sits near Kentucky Wesleyan College (887 students, 0.00/1k).

#InstitutionEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1University of KentuckyLexington · 34,709 students34,709100% of the leader · rank #18.53
2University of LouisvilleLouisville · 23,065 students23,06566% of the leader · rank #27.59
3University of the CumberlandsWilliamsburg · 22,120 students22,12064% of the leader · rank #30.09
4Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green · 16,291 students16,29147% of the leader · rank #44.24
5Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond · 15,673 students15,67345% of the leader · rank #52.17
6Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights · 15,347 students15,34744% of the leader · rank #60.85
7Jefferson Community and Technical CollegeLouisville · 13,429 students13,42939% of the leader · rank #70.60
8Bluegrass Community and Technical CollegeLexington · 12,965 students12,96537% of the leader · rank #812.34
9Campbellsville UniversityCampbellsville · 10,836 students10,83631% of the leader · rank #90.55
10Murray State UniversityMurray · 10,020 students10,02029% of the leader · rank #102.59
11Morehead State UniversityMorehead · 8,791 students8,79125% of the leader · rank #110.91
12Elizabethtown Community and Technical CollegeElizabethtown · 6,420 students6,42018% of the leader · rank #120.00
13Somerset Community CollegeSomerset · 6,155 students6,15518% of the leader · rank #130.00
14Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical CollegeBowling Green · 5,825 students5,82517% of the leader · rank #140.52
15Galen College of Nursing-LouisvilleLouisville · 5,585 students5,58516% of the leader · rank #150.00

Enrollment is total reported students, not full-time equivalent, and a branch campus is reported separately from its parent institution. A larger campus is not a less safe one: the incident rate beside it is already per 1,000 students.

Nationwide states with similar campus scale or Clery rate

Two nationwide peer sets for Kentucky: closest on tracked campus count (84 here) and closest on unweighted average 2024 Clery rate (3.45/1k here). The rate-neighbourhood and keep-peer blocks above stay geo-adjacent; these columns are cross-state ABS comparisons with deduped link sets.

Similar campus count

Nearest other states by number of tracked postsecondary institutions (≥5 scored campuses in corpus).

Similar campus Clery rate

Nearest other states by unweighted average on-campus Clery rate. Campus-count peers above are excluded.

Read with this state

Keep-peer handoff: Minnesota sits nearest on unweighted campus average (+0.28/1k). Inside Kentucky, open University of the Cumberlands's campus sheet next.

University of the Cumberlands profile → | All states → | Kentucky net price → | Incident tool → | Methodology →

Kentucky campus safety FAQ

What are the safest colleges in Kentucky?

Among Kentucky campuses that reported at least one 2024 Criminal Offense or VAWA incident in the Clery categories used here, University of the Cumberlands has the lowest rate (0.09 per 1,000 students). Next among nonzero reporters: Gateway Community and Technical College (0.19/1k); Thomas More University (0.43/1k). 52 campuses reported zero in those score categories and are listed separately without a safety ordinal, because a zero report is not the same as a proven safer campus.

How does PlainCampus rank campus safety in Kentucky?

In Kentucky, campuses with any 2024 Criminal Offenses or VAWA incidents in the score categories are ordered by incidents per 1,000 students - University of the Cumberlands currently leads that nonzero list at 0.09/1k. Zero-report and unscored campuses stay unranked and alphabetical. See /methodology for the full rate definition.

How many colleges in Kentucky are compared?

This page covers 84 tracked higher-education institutions in Kentucky, serving about 288,524 enrolled students combined across 44 cities. 32 carry a ranked nonzero rate; 52 are listed without a safety ordinal. By enrollment the largest are University of Kentucky (34,709); University of Louisville (23,065); University of the Cumberlands (22,120). Nearby state averages for context: Minnesota (3.73/1k); Delaware (4.05/1k); Hawaii (2.75/1k); Missouri (4.22/1k); Maryland (2.65/1k); Texas (2.59/1k).

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal Clery Act source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.