The Metro Louisville area boasts of four four-year higher education institutions plus Jefferson Community College.

The largest, and perhaps best known, is the University of Louisville, a state-supported research university with a trio of campuses. The 287-acre Belknap Campus is three miles from downtown Louisville and houses seven of the university's 11 colleges and schools. The Health Science Center is situated in downtown Louisville's medical complex and houses the university's health-related programs and the University of Louisville Hospital. On the 243-acre Shelby Campus located in eastern Jefferson County are the National Crime Prevention Institute and the Information Technology Resource Center.

U of L, established in 1798, enrolls more than 22,000 students, about half of whom hail from Jefferson County. It offers graduate, professional, baccalaureate, and associate degrees, as well as certificates, in over 170 fields of study through 12 schools and colleges.

Spalding University, a four-year private university with a downtown campus, is a diverse community of learners dedicated to meeting the needs of the times in the tradition of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth through quality undergraduate and graduate liberal and professional studies. The Louisville campus, which now enrolls some 1,700 students, was established in 1920.

Historically, Spalding University has offered extensive study programs for the part-time student. Teachers, librarians, business and professional persons, and others unable to attend college full-time have earned degrees by attending the University's evening and Saturday classes.

In order to serve this same group of students more effectively, Spalding University opened its Weekend College and its Accelerated Evening Program.

Bellarmine University opened in 1950 on a 135-acre campus that was a part of a royal land grant from King George III to James McCorkle for his service in the French and Indian War. The school became one of the first in the Commonwealth of Kentucky open to all races.

In 1963, Bellarmine opened the Thomas Merton Studies Center devoted to the works of Thomas Merton, a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani. Today this internationally significant archive contains more than 50,000 items; over 260 doctoral dissertations plus masters theses and numerous books have been written based in part on work at Bellarmine's Center.

Bellarmine offers graduate degree programs in education, nursing, physical therapy, executive MBA, and a dual MSN/MBA master's degree.

Indiana University Southeast, located across the Ohio River in New Albany, Ind., is attractive to some Kentucky students because it offers them in-state tuition rates. The primary service area for IU Southeast includes nine Indiana counties: Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Scott, Washington, Jackson, Jefferson, Orange; and three Kentucky counties: Bullitt, Oldham, Jefferson.

Currently, more than 6,200 students are enrolled in six master's degree programs, 39 bachelor's degree programs, and 12 associate's degree programs. Since the first degrees were awarded in 1968, approximately 17,000 people have graduated from IU Southeast.

IU Southeast is located on a 177-acre tract at the foot of the "knobs" area of Southern Indiana. A Graduate Center in Jeffersonville, Ind. provides even easier access to courses in education, business, and continuing studies.

The Jefferson Community and Technical College District is the largest in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Made up of Jefferson Community College and Jefferson Technical College, the district has five campuses in Jefferson, Carroll and Shelby counties.

The colleges offer a wide-range of academic and technical programs to prepare students to study for a four-year degree or to enter a career. The colleges offer associate degrees, pre-baccalaureate education, diploma and certificate programs in occupational fields; adult, continuing and developmental education; customized training for business and industry; and distance learning.

Jefferson Community College opened in 1968. JCC serves more than 10,000 students a year and offers a wide-range of general education courses leading to Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees that allow students to continue their studies at other colleges and universities.

It also offers an array of occupational programs leading to Associate in Applied Science degrees that allow students to step directly into careers. Enrolling more than 3,500 students a year, JTC offers non-traditional programs and associate degrees, certificates and programs designed to meet the growing needs of business and industry. JTC also has customized business and apprenticeship training programs. In 2005, the colleges consolidated into a comprehensive community and technical college, offering students and business increased flexibility and access to programs.

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