| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Public two-year college, one of the 16 colleges of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS); campus programs plus many fully online degrees and certificates |
| Campuses | Six in central Kentucky: Newtown (with the Newtown North site) and Leestown in Lexington, plus Georgetown, Winchester, Danville and Lawrenceburg |
| Credentials | Associate degrees (AAS, AA, AS, AFA), diplomas and certificates |
| Typical length | Four weeks for the CDL course; one semester for EMT and nurse aide; under a year for Practical Nursing; about two years for most associate degrees |
| Enrollment | 12,965 undergraduates in fall 2024, about 31% full time (federal IPEDS data); 18,372 different credit students over 2024-25 (college count) |
| Accreditation | The Commission on Colleges and Universities (formerly SACSCOC); next review December 2026 |
| Federal aid | Yes (Title IV) |
| Tuition | 2026-27: $198 a credit for Kentucky residents and for online-only courses; $270 for non-residents; plus an $8 fee per credit |
| Founded | Origins in 1939; the present college was formed in 2005 from Lexington Community College and Central Kentucky Technical College |
| Facts checked | 10 October 2026 |
A Lexington college formed from two older schools in 2005
Bluegrass Community and Technical College took its present form in 2005, when Lexington Community College, the last college of the University of Kentucky’s community college system, was combined with Central Kentucky Technical College. The college dates its roots to 1939, when it says it served 20 students, and marked its 85th anniversary in 2024-25. Its year-round credit enrollment grew from 14,764 in 2022-23 to 18,372 in 2024-25. Seven of its health programs hold programmatic accreditation: nursing, radiography, respiratory care, sonography, surgical technology, paramedic and the medical assisting diploma. Most trade and health teaching happens at the Leestown campus in Lexington, with manufacturing at Georgetown and Danville and diesel at Lawrenceburg.
Programs on six central Kentucky campuses and online
According to the 2026-27 KCTCS catalog, BCTC offers 51 occupational and technical programs as certificates, diplomas and Associate in Applied Science degrees, along with the Associate in Arts, Associate in Science and two Associate in Fine Arts degrees. Many trade programs offer certificates and a diploma as well as an AAS. The table covers the main career programs; a dash means the program page gave no figure.
| Program | Credential | Length and entry | Where | Accreditation | Prepares for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing (RN) | AAS; PN Bridge for LPNs | Five semesters; selective | Leestown, Lawrenceburg, Winchester | ACEN | NCLEX-RN |
| Practical Nursing | Diploma | Under a year full time; first come, first served | Leestown, Danville | ACEN (initial, Nov 2024) | NCLEX-PN |
| Medicaid Nurse Aide | Certificate (3 credits) | One semester | Leestown, Lawrenceburg, Winchester, Danville | – | State Registered Nurse Aide |
| Medical Assisting | AAS, diploma, certificates | AAS about two years | Leestown, Winchester | CAAHEP (Leestown diploma) | CMA or RMA |
| Dental Hygiene | AAS | About two years; selective | Newtown North | CODA (site visit Nov 2025) | – |
| Radiography | AAS | 21 to 24 months; selective, apply by 1 March | Leestown | JRCERT (eight-year award) | ARRT |
| Respiratory Care | AAS, certificate | About two years; selective | Leestown | CoARC | NBRC CRT and RRT |
| Diagnostic Medical Sonography | AAS (cardiac, vascular) | About two years; selective | – | CAAHEP | ARDMS |
| Surgical Technology | AAS | Prerequisites, then two semesters and a summer session; selective | Leestown | CAAHEP | NBSTSA (CST) |
| Emergency Medical Technician | Certificate | One semester | Leestown, Winchester, Lawrenceburg, Danville | – | National Registry EMT |
| Paramedic | Certificate; AAS | Certificate one year; fall start | Georgetown in person; hybrid at four campuses | CAAHEP | NREMT Paramedic |
| Welding Technology | AAS, diploma, eight certificates | AAS two years | Leestown, Danville | – | AWS National Skills Standard Level I |
| Electrical Technology | AAS, diplomas, certificates | – | Leestown, Danville | – | – |
| Automotive Technology | AAS, diploma, certificates | Waitlist | Leestown | ASE Education Foundation | – |
| Diesel Technology | AAS, diploma, certificates | Diploma 18 months; waitlist | Lawrenceburg | – | – |
| Construction Technology | AAS, diploma, certificates | Diploma about 18 months | Leestown | – | – |
| Machining and manufacturing | AAS, diplomas, certificates | – | Georgetown, Danville | – | – |
| Truck Driver Training (CDL) | Certificate | Four weeks, 160 hours | Leestown | – | Class A CDL |
| Cosmetology | Certificate, diploma | 1,500+ clock hours; waitlist | Newtown North | – | Kentucky Board of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists exams |
| Business, IT, cybersecurity, criminal justice, design, early childhood | AAS, diplomas, certificates | – | Online or Newtown | – | – |
Business Administration, Computer Aided Drafting and Design, Computer and Information Technologies, Cybersecurity, Criminal Justice, Graphic Design, Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education, Medical Information Technology, Human and Social Services and Supply Chain Management can be completed online. The Equine program trains at the college’s Thoroughbred Training Center on Paris Pike in Lexington, and Heavy Equipment Operation is a certificate for equipment operators. Theatre and filmmaking are Associate in Fine Arts transfer degrees for students heading to a bachelor’s program, not job-training credentials.
What the main programs cover
Registered nursing
The associate degree in nursing runs five semesters, about two years, and its entry requirements include math, PSY 110 and BIO 137. Applicants must already be on the nurse aide registry, attend a pre-admission conference and clear a background check and drug screen, and they need health insurance. LPNs can use the PN Bridge to join with advanced standing. In 2023-24, 81% of students admitted to the traditional route at Leestown and Lawrenceburg completed, and 83% at Winchester.
Practical nursing
Practical Nursing is a full-time diploma of under a year, taught at Leestown and Danville. It is not points-ranked: seats go in order of completed applications, and registration closes when the class fills or on 15 May. Applicants need an ATI TEAS composite of at least 41.3 and must attend one of the pre-admission conferences held from February to April at the two campuses. Graduates who want to become RNs can return through the PN Bridge into the associate degree.
Radiography
Radiography combines classes in the Leestown campus’s M Building with clinical rotations in Lexington hospitals over 21 to 24 months, and it awards an AAS with no shorter certificates. To be considered, students need a 2.0 GPA on at least 12 credits; applicants are then ranked on points from their grades in BIO 137, BIO 139 and MAT 150, and applications are due by 1 March. Completion is the weak spot: 17 of the 28 students in the 2024 class finished.
Paramedic
Paramedic training starts each fall, and students apply by 18 July. There are two ways to attend. The Georgetown cohort meets in person twice a week and is run with Georgetown-Scott County EMS. The hybrid option has students on campus one day a week from 9 to 4, plus lab days, at Danville, Lawrenceburg, Leestown or Winchester. Students can stop at the one-year certificate or go on to the EMS-Paramedic associate degree, and 94% of the 2024-25 cohort stayed in the program.
Diesel technology
Diesel Technology trains medium and heavy truck technicians at the Lawrenceburg campus. Students can build up nine certificates of 16 weeks each, including Diesel Engine Mechanic, Heavy Duty Brake Mechanic and Fluid Power Mechanic, toward the 18-month Medium and Heavy Truck Technician Diploma or the two-year associate degree track of the same name. Because the program has a waitlist and only one site, students elsewhere in the region should plan the commute and apply early.
Truck driving (CDL)
The Tractor Trailer CDLA I course packs 160 hours into four weeks: 40 hours of classroom work and 120 hours of skills practice and driving in manual-transmission trucks. Classes meet Monday to Thursday from 7:00 to 5:30 at the Leestown campus, and the DOT physical and drug screen are part of the course. Sessions for 2026 ran 1 to 25 June, 6 to 30 July and 10 August to 3 September. The page does not say whether the course earns college credit.
2026-27 tuition, Work Ready Kentucky and other ways to pay
The KCTCS Board of Regents sets tuition, and the rates are the same at every KCTCS college. BCTC’s tuition page lists for 2026-27:
- $198 a credit for Kentucky residents, and for online-only courses whatever the student’s state. KCTCS charges by state residency, so there is no separate in-county rate.
- $270 a credit for non-residents taking campus courses.
- $99 a credit for dual-credit high-school students.
- Fees: $8 a credit for every student, plus a $20-a-credit distance-learner fee on online courses.
- A full year (24 credits): $4,752 tuition for residents or $6,480 for non-residents, plus $192 in fees.
- Cost of attendance with books, food, housing, transport and personal costs: $15,614 for a Kentucky student living with parents and $19,323 living off campus; $17,342 and $21,051 for out-of-state students.
- Short courses with their own prices: the CDL course is $5,000 (2026) plus about $125 in state fees, paid in full before the first day; the college estimates $858 for the Medicaid Nurse Aide course and $1,181 for Kentucky Medication Aide.
Rates rose slightly from 2025-26, when residents paid $195 a credit. BCTC takes part in federal financial aid. Kentucky’s Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship covers up to 60 credit hours of tuition for state residents with a high-school diploma or GED (or working toward a GED) who have no associate degree yet; the state decides which programs qualify. The CDL course accepts WIOA funding through the Kentucky Career Center, VA benefits, vocational rehabilitation and the Kentucky Farmworkers Program.
Open admission, selective health programs and flexible schedules
BCTC is open admission. Its selective programs are nursing (RN), dental hygiene, radiography, respiratory care, surgical technology and sonography, most with a pre-admission conference; radiography applications close on 1 March and paramedic applications on 18 July for a fall start. Practical nursing is first come, first served, with an ATI TEAS minimum and conferences at Danville and Leestown.
Terms come in 16-, 12- and 8-week sessions. Many programs can be taken fully online; welding offers flexible and evening options; hybrid paramedic students attend one day a week; the Kentucky Medication Aide course meets one day a week; and the CDL course runs four days a week for four weeks.
Accreditation and published results
BCTC is accredited to award associate degrees by The Commission on Colleges and Universities, the new name of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) since 1 September 2026; the commission says the rename does not change any member’s status. College Navigator lists the college’s next review for December 2026. We found no sanction or monitoring action.
Program accreditors named on the college’s program pages: ACEN for the associate degree in nursing (continuing) and for practical nursing (initial accreditation, November 2024); JRCERT for radiography (an eight-year award in January 2025); CoARC for respiratory care; CAAHEP for paramedic, surgical technology, cardiac and vascular sonography and the medical assisting diploma; and the ASE Education Foundation for automotive technology. The dental hygiene program says it is taking part in the CODA accreditation process and had a site visit in November 2025.
Published results by program:
| Program | Result | Cohort and source |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing (RN) | NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate, 2025: 77.2% Lexington, 86.3% Lawrenceburg, 80.6% Winchester (Kentucky associate-degree average 82.5%) | Calendar-year candidates; Kentucky Board of Nursing |
| Practical Nursing | NCLEX-PN first-time pass rate, 2025: 100% Danville, 85.7% Lexington (Kentucky PN average 88.3%) | Calendar-year candidates; Kentucky Board of Nursing |
| Radiography | ARRT first-attempt pass rate 94% (72 of 77); job placement within 12 months 100% | Five-year average, 2020 to 2024 graduates; BCTC radiography page |
| Paramedic | NREMT first-attempt pass rate 81% (21 of 26); placement 100% | 2024-25 cohort; BCTC paramedic page |
| Medical Assisting | Exam pass rate 75%; job placement 90%; retention 75% | 2025 annual report for the CAAHEP-accredited diploma; BCTC medical assisting page |
| College-wide | 43.1% graduated within 150% of normal time | First-time, full-time degree or certificate seekers, 2023-24; BCTC student achievement disclosure |
| College-wide | 59.5% fall-to-fall retention | First-time credential seekers, fall 2023 to fall 2024; BCTC student achievement disclosure |
The nursing figures come from the Kentucky Board of Nursing, as read on 10 October 2026; the college’s own nursing page shows some different numbers, so we use the Board’s. College Navigator reports a 43% federal graduation rate for full-time students who started in fall 2021, a separate measure from the college’s figure. Cosmetology, EMT, welding, automotive, diesel and the CDL course publish no pass or placement rates.
Before you enroll
- Many health programs are selective and several trade programs are full. Nursing (RN), dental hygiene, radiography, respiratory care, surgical technology and sonography admit selectively, most after a pre-admission conference; automotive, diesel and cosmetology keep waitlists. Students waiting for a health seat may be placed in Health Science Technology, a degree built from short certificates that is not a clinical credential on its own.
- Results vary by campus and year. Lexington’s first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate fell from 92.7% in 2024 to 77.2% in 2025, below the Kentucky associate-degree average of 82.5%, and only 17 of 28 radiography students in the 2024 class completed, against the program’s own 85% target. Ask each program for its newest figures.
- Check what a credential covers. Sonography trains only cardiac and vascular sonographers; state welding certification exams are taken separately through Workforce Solutions; the electrical and fire programs make no licensing or certification claim; culinary arts is a single certificate; Heavy Equipment Operation trains operators, not mechanics; and BCTC has no pharmacy technician program.
- Two accreditation decisions are pending or unpublished. The college’s reaffirmation review by the Commission on Colleges and Universities is due in December 2026, and the dental hygiene program had a CODA site visit in November 2025. Ask the college for the outcome of each.
- Online courses cost $198 a credit wherever a student lives, but the online-programs page does not say whether BCTC takes part in SARA, the agreement that lets colleges enroll distance students from other states. Students outside Kentucky should confirm they can enroll before applying.
Adult education, testing and public clinics
Adult education and GED classes run at Newtown North for Fayette County and at the Georgetown, Lawrenceburg and Winchester campuses for their counties, with further centers in Estill and, since 2025, Woodford counties. Newtown North also holds the Testing Center, and its dental hygiene clinic and cosmetology salon serve the public. Every campus has a lactation room. Clinical rotations are part of the nursing, radiography, respiratory care, surgical technology, medical assisting and paramedic programs, and the Graphic Design AAS requires an internship. Bluegrass College Academy, based at Georgetown, lets high-school students earn college credit.
What students say
On Niche, BCTC averages 3.95 out of 5 from 552 reviews and has an overall grade of B (checked 10 October 2026). Reviewers most often praise approachable professors and small classes, low cost, and a safe, welcoming campus with helpful advising and tutoring. The main complaints are limited study space and dated technology, a quiet campus with few social or sports options, and uneven dining on some campuses. Niche’s own Academics and Professors grades are only C+. We could not see when the reviews were posted, so we cannot say whether they cluster in time.
Sources
Checked 10 October 2026: BCTC campuses · KCTCS 2026-27 catalog, BCTC · BCTC tuition and costs · BCTC student achievement disclosure · Kentucky Board of Nursing pass rates · College Navigator · Niche
Programs & Courses
Nursing and Allied Health
- Nursing (AAS, associate degree in nursing, RN; PN Bridge for LPNs)
- Practical Nursing (diploma)
- Medicaid Nurse Aide and Kentucky Medication Aide (certificates)
- Medical Assisting (AAS, diploma, certificates including Phlebotomy and Electrocardiograph Technician)
- Dental Hygiene (AAS; Newtown North)
- Radiography (AAS)
- Respiratory Care (AAS, certificate)
- Diagnostic Medical Sonography (AAS; cardiac and vascular tracks)
- Surgical Technology (AAS)
- Medical Information Technology (AAS, diplomas, certificates; online option)
- Orthotics and Prosthetics Technology (AAS)
- Health Science Technology (AAS built from short certificates)
Emergency Services
- Emergency Medical Technician (certificate)
- Paramedic (certificate; EMS-Paramedic AAS)
- Fire/Rescue Science Technology (AAS, Fire Chief Diploma, firefighter certificates)
Skilled Trades and Transportation
- Welding Technology (AAS, Combination Welder Diploma, certificates)
- Electrical Technology (AAS, diplomas, certificates)
- Air Conditioning Technology (certificate, diploma, AAS)
- Automotive Technology (AAS, diploma, certificates)
- Diesel Technology (AAS, Medium and Heavy Truck Technician Diploma, certificates; Lawrenceburg)
- Construction Technology (AAS, Construction Carpenter Diploma, certificates)
- Computer Aided Drafting and Design (AAS, certificates; online option)
- Truck Driver Training (Tractor Trailer CDLA I Certificate; Leestown)
- Heavy Equipment Operation (certificate)
Manufacturing and Engineering Technology
- Advanced Manufacturing Technology
- Computerized Manufacturing and Machining (AAS, CNC Machinist Diploma, certificates)
- Industrial Maintenance Technology (certificate, diploma, AAS)
- Engineering and Electronics Technology; Integrated Engineering Technology
Business and Computing
- Business Administration (AAS, certificates; online option)
- Administrative Office Technology (certificates)
- Supply Chain Management (AAS, certificates; online)
- Computer and Information Technologies (AAS, certificates; online option)
- Cybersecurity (AAS, certificates; online option)
- Graphic Design and Library Technology (AAS, certificates; online option)
Public Service, Education and Other Programs
- Criminal Justice (AAS, certificates; online option)
- Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (AAS, diploma, certificates)
- Human and Social Services (AAS, certificates)
- Cosmetology (Cosmetologist Certificate, Cosmetology Diploma; Newtown North)
- Equine (certificate, diploma, AAS; Thoroughbred Training Center)
- Culinary Arts (certificate)
- Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Fine Arts in Theatre and in Filmmaking (transfer)
Campus Locations
Lexington, KY 500 Newtown Pike, Lexington, KY 40508
Lexington, KY 164 Opportunity Way, Lexington, KY 40511
Lexington (Georgetown), KY 200 Technology Court, Georgetown, KY 40324
Lexington (Winchester), KY 2020 Rolling Hills Lane, Winchester, KY 40391
Danville, KY 59 Corporate Drive, Danville, KY 40422
Lawrenceburg, KY 1500 Bypass North, US 127, Lawrenceburg, KY 40342