Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Highland Heights is a college town: 27 of every 100 residents are students
Northern Kentucky University (6,772 students on campus) is inside the city. Across Kentucky, 6 of every 100 residents are enrolled in college.
From the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard, June 2026; IPEDS fall 2023 enrollment) and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020–24. Straight-line distances from the center of Highland Heights. Colleges are described, not graded.
What stands out about college in Highland Heights
Facts about the town and its distance to campus; each college’s own figures follow.
What it’s like to live in Highland Heights
How much the colleges shape the town, from the Census Bureau’s survey of residents.
27 of every 100 Highland Heights residents are in college (KY: 6).
How students change Highland Heights’ other numbers
Read the town’s other grades with this in mind. How TownRatings handles college towns →
Students who live off campus count in the Census poverty figures: 20.4% of Highland Heights residents are below the poverty line, 13.8% when college students are left out (that estimate could be off by 8 points either way). 62% of the students themselves are below the line. In college towns, the Jobs & income grade uses the rate without students and leaves unemployment out.
The Cost grade leaves out the share of renters paying 30% or more of income on rent wherever students are a quarter of residents or more (27% here): it would mostly measure student incomes.
CDC’s estimates follow each place’s age mix, and Highland Heights’ median age is 30.8 (Kentucky 39.1), so the adult figures describe a young population.
Crime is counted per resident, and students who live here count as residents. A college with its own police department reports its incidents under that department, not the city.
Colleges within 15 miles of Highland Heights
10 private colleges within 12.1 miles, two public colleges within 7.3 miles, and four community colleges. The nearest public four-year college, Kentucky State University, is 61.5 miles away.
Degree-granting colleges with 100 or more students on campus (fall 2023 enrollment, minus students who study only online). Admitted: share of applicants offered a place. Net price: the average a year after grants, for students on federal aid. Graduate: within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting.
What would your family pay?
The average a year after grants, for families on federal aid, at the colleges within 15 miles and the nearest public four-year college. Pick your family’s income.
Starts at $48–75k, where Highland Heights’ median household income ($53,275) falls.
The average a year after grants and scholarships, for first-time, full-time students on federal aid, from the College Scorecard. Your own price depends on your aid package; every college has a net price calculator. For community colleges the net price counts housing and food at full cost, so tuition is shown beside it. “—”: not reported for that income.
Do students finish, and does it pay?
Each dot is a college: across is the share who graduate, up is what they earn ten years after starting.
Graduation: first-time, full-time students within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 years (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting, for students who got federal aid. *Reported for all the campuses that file together: University of Cincinnati (3); University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash College (3); University of Cincinnati-Clermont College (3).
Questions about college in Highland Heights
Is Highland Heights a college town?
Yes. 27 of every 100 Highland Heights residents are enrolled in college (Census, 2020–24), against 6 across Kentucky. Northern Kentucky University has 6,772 students on campus, next to 6,341 residents.
What colleges are in Highland Heights?
Northern Kentucky University is inside the city. Gateway Community and Technical College is 10.8 miles away in Florence.
Why is Highland Heights’ poverty rate so high?
Students who live off campus count in the Census figures. 20.4% of residents are below the poverty line; leaving college students out, 13.8% are (ACS 2020–24, give or take 8 points).
What is the closest community college to Highland Heights, and what does it cost?
Gateway Community and Technical College in Florence, 10.8 miles away. Tuition and fees are $4,728 a year for Kentucky residents; the federal net price, $5,725, counts housing and food at full cost.
How hard is it to get into Northern Kentucky University?
Northern Kentucky University admitted 68% of applicants in the Scorecard’s latest year; the middle half of admitted students scored 953–1,150 on the SAT.
Neighbors talk college
Students, parents, alumni and the neighbors next door.
Colleges: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS (Scorecard 06/10/2026 · IPEDS 2024 · fall 2023 enrollment). “On campus” is fall enrollment minus students who study only online. Distances are straight-line from the center of Highland Heights. Residents in college, age, rent and poverty (including poverty without college students, table B14006): U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–24. Colleges are described, not graded; the College town label marks towns where 15% or more of residents are enrolled. How TownRatings describes colleges →