Union Commonwealth University
Private College in Barbourville, KY. Six-year graduation rate 32%. Median 10-year earnings $42,002.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $42,002 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 32% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $24,250, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 4.3% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 32% — below national average
Admissions
Union Commonwealth University accepts 63% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. With 996 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. 39% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. Score ranges below describe the middle half of score submitters among enrolled first-years; students who applied test-optional are not represented in them.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | 15–22 | 130 (54%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Union Commonwealth University →Academics
Only 32% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention of 64% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 29% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The 14:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 740 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $17,124 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $12,214 at the $0–30k band to $44,322 at $110k+. 96% of students get grant aid averaging $24,379, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 61% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 197 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $12,214 |
| $30–48k | $14,368 |
| $48–75k | $15,774 |
| $75–110k | $44,322 |
| $110k+ | $44,322 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 448 of these 740 students, totalling $2,851,203 — an average of $6,364 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Knox County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring, Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); Heightened Cash Monitoring; School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)