From its modest beginnings as a small normal school that trained Black teachers for Black schools in Kentucky, Kentucky State University has evolved to become a unique liberal studies institution, serving students without regard to their race, age, sex, national origin, or economic status.

The University was chartered in May 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons, only the second state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky. During the euphoria of Frankfort's 1886 centennial celebration, when vivid recollections of the Civil War remained, the city's 4,000 residents were keenly interested in having the new institution located in Frankfort. Toward that end, the city donated $1,500—a considerable amount in those days—and a site on a scenic bluff overlooking the town. This united display of community enthusiasm and commitment won the day. The new college was located in Frankfort in spite of competition from several other cities.

Recitation Hall (now Jackson Hall), the college’s first building, was erected in 1887. The new school opened on October 11, 1887, with three teachers, 55 students, and John H. Jackson as president. In 1890, the institution became a land grant college, and the departments of home economics, agriculture, and mechanics were added to the school’s curriculum. The school produced its first graduating class of five students in the spring of that year. A high school was organized in 1893. This expansion continued into the twentieth century in both name and program. In 1902, the name was changed to Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons. The name was changed again in 1926 to Kentucky State College for Colored Persons. In the early 1930s, the high school was discontinued, and, in 1938, the school was named the Kentucky State College for Negroes. The term “for Negroes” was dropped in 1952. Kentucky State College became a university in 1972, and, in 1973, the first graduate students enrolled in its School of Public Affairs.

Kentucky State University's 882-acre campus includes a 204-acre agricultural research farm and a 306-acre environmental education center. Kentucky State University has an enrollment of nearly 1800 students and more than 100 full-time instructional faculty members.

Kentucky State University, today, has more than 43 campus structures to serve its family. Many courses are taught each academic year in off-campus classes throughout Franklin County and the surrounding six-county service area. The University's student-faculty ratio is the lowest among public institutions of higher learning in Kentucky. Today's students have the opportunity to receive an associate (two-year) degree in two disciplines, a baccalaureate (four-year) degree in 38 majors, several of which have optional specializations, a master's degree in seven disciplines, and a doctoral degree in nursing practice. Students may also elect to prepare for professional schools through the University's arrangements with the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, the University of Maryland at College Park, Vanderbilt University, Meharry Medical College, Florida A&M University, Northern Kentucky University,

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