President's Message

Welcome message from
Dr. James C. Votruba, President of Northern Kentucky University

Office of the President

Strategic Plan 2012-14 (PDF)

SACS

Northern Kentucky University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Learn more.

Carrie Underwood was the first headlining act to open up the Bank of Kentucky center at NKU.

About Northern Kentucky University

You know the kind of place that offers a comfortable, safe, energetic learning environment - a place that will get the most out of you and mold you into a person who will shape the future?

We're that kind of place.

Welcome to Northern Kentucky University, a growing metropolitan university of more than 15,000 students served by more than 2,000 faculty and staff on a thriving suburban campus near Cincinnati.

Located in the quiet suburb of Highland Heights, Ky. - just seven miles southeast of Cincinnati - we have become a leader in Greater Cincinnati and Kentucky by providing a private school education for a fraction of the cost. While we are one of the fastest growing universities in Kentucky, our professors still know our students' names.

And while growth in numbers and reputation is wonderful, we are not satisfied with this success. We want more.

Campus Growth

In fall 2011 we celebrated the construction and opening of the $52.8 million and 110,000-square-foot Griffin Hall, home of NKU's College of Informatics.  In 2008, we opened our $37 million, 144,000-square-foot student union building, as well as The Bank of Kentucky Center, a $60 million, 9,400-seat arena for basketball games and other events.

It is the best time to be a part of NKU.

In sports, we win on a national level. The NKU Norse are an NCAA Division II university in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and field teams in baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball, soccer, cross country, tennis, golf and volleyball. Six out of the last ten years we have claimed our conference's all sports crown - which means overall, we have the most talented teams. The men's soccer team won its first NCAA national championship in 2011, while the women's basketball team has captured two NCAA titles since 2000.

Not only are we attracting talented students and faculty, but we're also recruiting a distinguished set of lecturers. Speakers to NKU in recent years have included politician Bob Dole, political strategist James Carville, journalist Bob Woodward and President George W. Bush.

But no matter how many new buildings we raise or how many championships we win, nothing is more important than our main objective: Graduating talented students who will become the leaders of tomorrow.

Ready to Lead

Through our efforts in the community and our ties to numerous local businesses, we are not only molding students, we are helping to shape and expand the ever-changing world into which they will graduate.

And yes - we want our students prepared to enter that workforce. But we also want them ready to lead, to change it for the better. We want them ready to make our community and region a better place.

Students at NKU improve themselves - then they improve the world.

That's what we're all about here at NKU.