There comes a point in the college search when your browser has approximately 37 tabs open, every school is promising a great community and you just want someone to tell you what actually makes one place different from another.
Fair.
So if Transylvania University has made it onto your list — or keeps showing up in your search — here’s what you should know.
Transy is a private liberal arts university in the heart of Lexington, Kentucky, where students get the advantages of a close college community without giving up the opportunities that come with living in a city. Classes are personal, professors are accessible and the experience is designed to help you put what you’re learning to work well before graduation.
And yes, you can apply to Transylvania now.
What is Transylvania University known for?
Founded in 1780, Transylvania is the 16th-oldest college in the United States. The history is hard to miss when you walk past Old Morrison, but what matters more to students today is what it feels like to go to college here.
Transy enrolled 937 students in fall 2026, with an 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio and an average class size of 15. Those numbers translate into something pretty tangible: professors know their students.
You can ask a question in class and keep talking about it with your professor afterward. You can stop by an office without feeling as if you’re navigating a giant institution. When an internship, research opportunity or interesting project comes along, there are faculty and staff who know your interests well enough to point you toward it.
That kind of attention can shape a college experience in ways that are hard to put on a spreadsheet.
What if I don’t know exactly what I want to major in?
That is completely normal.
College is one of the few times in your life when exploring is actually part of the job. You may arrive thinking you know exactly what you want to study and discover something entirely different in a class you took almost by accident.
Transy offers a wide range of majors, minors and preprofessional programs, and students can even work with faculty to develop a self-designed major around their interests.
A student interested in business may also find themselves drawn to psychology. Someone planning on medicine might discover an interest in philosophy, data analytics or writing. At a liberal arts university, those connections are not side trips from your education. They are part of it.
You don’t need to arrive on campus with the next 40 years figured out.
Will a liberal arts degree actually prepare me for a career?
This is one of the most practical questions you can ask when choosing a college.
According to Transylvania’s most recent student outcomes, 95% of graduates are employed or attending graduate school within six months of graduation.
The preparation behind that number starts before senior year. Transy’s Career Development team works with students throughout college on everything from exploring careers and finding internships to building résumés, preparing for interviews and applying to graduate programs.
Students can also take part in 100 Doors to Success, Transy’s alumni mentoring program. They are paired with alumni who can help them set goals, understand career paths, build professional networks and make the connection between a liberal arts education and the working world.
Then there is Transylvania’s Real World Guarantee. Every student has the opportunity to complete at least one high-impact learning experience through an internship, study abroad or mentoring.
It means career preparation isn’t reserved for the last semester of college. You get time to explore, try things, meet people and figure out what fits.
Does being in Lexington make a difference?
It does, especially if you want a college that feels connected to the place around it.
Transylvania sits in downtown Lexington, so the city isn’t something you save for occasional weekends. It’s part of everyday life.
Students have access to internships, jobs, volunteer work, arts organizations, hospitals, nonprofits, businesses and government offices throughout Lexington. Downtown restaurants, coffee shops, events and entertainment are close to campus too.
There’s something nice about being able to head into the city after class and then walk back to a campus where you recognize people along the way. Transy gives you a close campus community without asking you to spend four years removed from everything happening beyond it.
If you’re trying to decide whether that combination feels right, visiting campus is probably the best way to find out. A regular campus visit includes a student-led tour, with options to add an admissions conversation and, for seniors, faculty meetings or class visits.
Is Transylvania University affordable?
Don’t let the published tuition price make this decision for you before you know what Transy would actually cost your family.
At Transylvania, 99% of students receive financial aid. Merit scholarships and other forms of financial aid can make a significant difference between the published price and what a student ultimately pays.
For students applying for fall 2027, Transylvania also offers a range of merit and additional scholarships, including scholarships based on academics as well as other student experiences and achievements.
That’s one reason applying can be worthwhile even if you’re still figuring out the financial side of your college search. An admission decision and financial aid offer give you real numbers to compare rather than assumptions about what a private college will cost.
What kind of student does well at Transy?
There really isn’t one Transy type.
You’ll find students who arrived knowing exactly what they wanted to study and students who changed direction once they got here. Some throw themselves into athletics, fraternity and sorority life or student organizations. Others find their place through research, the arts, service, internships or a professor who gets them interested in something they had never considered before.
What tends to matter is wanting to participate in your own college experience.
At Transy, you aren’t likely to spend four years sitting quietly in the back of enormous lecture halls. You’ll be asked what you think. People will notice when you have something to contribute, and you’ll have opportunities to get involved that can take you well beyond campus.
You also aren’t expected to arrive as some finished version of yourself. Part of college is finding out what you’re good at, what you care about and what you want to do with it.
Should I apply to Transylvania University?
If you’re looking for a college where professors know you, where Lexington becomes part of your education and where career preparation begins well before graduation, Transylvania is worth considering.
Applying also doesn’t mean you need to have everything settled yet. You can still be deciding on your major, comparing colleges, thinking about cost and trying to picture where you’ll feel most at home.
An application simply gives you the chance to find out what your Transy option could look like.
Ready when you are
Students applying for fall 2027 can choose from several admission plans. Early Decision and Early Action I applications are due Oct. 31, and Early Action II applications are due Dec. 1.
Early Action is nonbinding, so students can receive an earlier admission decision while keeping their college options open. It also provides early consideration for Transylvania merit scholarships. Early Decision is a binding option for students who have already decided that Transy is their first-choice college.
You can apply using the Transylvania application or the Common Application.
You don’t need to know exactly where the next four years will take you before you begin.
You just need a place to start.
Start your Transy application →
Or, if you’re still deciding, come see Transy for yourself →