1998 Whitney M. Young Jr. statue erected at the front entrance of campus. A native of Shelbyville, Kentucky, Whitney Moore Young Jr. was an American civil rights leader. He spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban League from a relatively passive civil rights organization into one that aggressively worked for equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity for the historically disenfranchised. The sculptor of the statue is another Kentucky State alumnus and fellow member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Ed Hamilton, who is best known for his statue, Spirit of Freedom, an African-American Civil War Memorial in Washington D.C. Hamilton, who was familiar with Young's role in the struggle for civil rights and was honored to be able to bring Young back to life and return him to the Kentucky State campus. Hamilton wanted to show Young in an attitude of welcome, which is why he sculpted him with his hand extended.

1998 & 2000 Kentucky State's golf teams won the National Minority Intercollegiate Golf Championship.

9 Aquaculture became Kentucky State's program of distinction. Initiated in the mid-1980s, the Division of Aquaculture was originally exclusively dedicated to research and extension activities. Expanded via experimental course offerings, and later with an undergraduate minor in Aquaculture/Aquatic Science, the Council on Post secondary Education approved Kentucky State to offer a Master of Science in Aquaculture/Aquatic Science in 1999. The program addresses all three of the traditional land-grant university roles: research, teaching, and extension and the Division has class offerings over the full spectrum of aquaculture, including reproduction, nutrition, water quality, physiology, production systems, economics and marketing, and fish disease.

Chappell Building built, named in honor of Roy M. Chappell. A Tuskegee Airman, Chappell was born in Williamsburg, Kentucky. Chappell attended Kentucky State College, where he majored in chemistry before leaving his junior year to join the service during World War II. His aviation career began when he was a volunteer with the 477th Bombardment Group, and he later served at Godman Field at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He participated in the Freedman Field Mutiny when 104 African-American officers protested for equal treatment in the military. After his military service, Chappell settled in Chicago, graduated from Roosevelt College—now Roosevelt University—and taught elementary school for 30 years.

2004 Mary Evans Sias named sixteenth president. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Sias graduated cum laude from Tougaloo College, and earned her Master of Science degree and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She also holds an M.B.A. degree in management at Abilene Christian College of Dallas. Sias' tenure as president was marked by strong support of salary adjustments for faculty and staff, increased funding for the school and the launch of its first capital campaign. Kentucky State also experienced new program development, including new graduate programs in business administration, environmental studies, computer science technology and special education.

2005 Kentucky State purchased 320 acres in Henry County for its Environmental Education Center.

2007 The School of Education introduced the Master of Special Education, Kentucky State's first completely online academic program.

2008 The new Whitney M. Young Jr. Residence Hall was built. The former Young Hall was renamed The Halls.

2009 Kentucky State's university-wide accreditation reaffirmed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.