Most Affordable Community Colleges in Kentucky
Two-year colleges, ranked by what students actually pay after aid. These are usually the cheapest route to the first two years of a degree, and credits often transfer to a four-year school.
18 community colleges in Kentucky are listed here, 18 of them reporting a net price. They run from $2,955 a year at Hazard Community and Technical College to $28,611 at ATA College, with a middle of about $5,406.
The cheapest are Hazard Community and Technical College, Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College and Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College. A low average is not a low bill for everyone — aid depends on your family's income — but it is where to start.
Community colleges in Kentucky, cheapest first · 18
Average net price per year after grants and scholarships, with the share of students on federal Pell grants where reported. Schools publishing no net price are listed last.
- Hazard Community and Technical College
- Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College
- Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College
- Big Sandy Community and Technical College
- Henderson Community College
- Somerset Community College
- Maysville Community and Technical College
- Elizabethtown Community and Technical College
- West Kentucky Community and Technical College
- Madisonville Community College
- Ashland Community and Technical College
- Gateway Community and Technical College
- Owensboro Community and Technical College
- Hopkinsville Community College
- Bluegrass Community and Technical College
- Jefferson Community and Technical College
- Galen College of Nursing-ARH
- ATA College
Questions families ask
- What is the most affordable community college in Kentucky?
- By average net price — what students actually pay per year after grants and scholarships — it is Hazard Community and Technical College at about $2,955 a year. That is an average across all students there; your own cost depends on your family's income, so check the school's net price calculator.
- What is the difference between sticker price and net price?
- Sticker price is the published tuition before any aid. Net price is what students actually pay after grants and scholarships are subtracted — not loans, which you pay back. Net price is usually far lower, and at expensive private colleges the gap can be tens of thousands a year, which is why every figure on this page is net price rather than tuition.
- How much do community colleges in Kentucky cost on average?
- Across the 18 community colleges in Kentucky that report a figure, the middle of the range is about $5,406 a year after aid, running from $2,955 to $28,611.
- What does the Pell grant percentage mean?
- It is the share of undergraduates at that school receiving a federal Pell grant — need-based aid that does not have to be repaid. A higher share usually means the school enrols more students from lower-income families. Across the community colleges listed here it runs from 29% to 84%, with a middle of about 35%. It is the only aid figure the Department of Education publishes per school, so it is the only one shown.
Which of these actually fits you?
A list is a starting point, not an answer. Two minutes of questions gives you a shortlist ranked on cost, academics, size and location — with the reaches labelled honestly.
Find your match — free