Quad
Bellarmine UniversityLouisville, KY · Private nonprofit

Academics

Majors and faculty

The most popular major is Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse (17% of graduates). 12 students for every faculty member, fewer than at 59% of colleges. 49% of faculty are full-time. Spends $11,447 a year on instruction per student.

Most popular majors

549 bachelor's degrees, 2024–25 graduates

The top 5 programs account for 44% of graduates; 45 programs in 21 fields awarded at least one.

  1. Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse 51.380117% 92
    Graduates in this field earn $82,814 4 years out
  2. Psychology, General 42.010110% 57
    Graduates in this field earn $53,413 4 years out
  3. Business Administration and Management, General 52.02016.0% 33
    Graduates in this field earn $63,991 4 years out
  4. Exercise Science and Kinesiology 31.05055.6% 31
    Graduates in this field earn $61,841 4 years out
  5. Sport and Fitness Administration/Management 31.05045.1% 28
    Graduates in this field earn $61,841 4 years out

Fastest-growing field: Parks, recreation, and kinesiology, 6.2% → 11% of graduates since 2014–15 (59 graduates in 2024–25).

Source:IPEDS Completions survey (degrees awarded by field), 2014–15 to 2024–25About the data(built 2026-10-12; CPI retrieved 2026-10-12)

Bachelor's degrees awarded July through June, by federal program name (), which can differ from what the college calls a major. A double major counts once, under the ; its other field is a . Earnings are College Scorecard's median for graduates of the program's broader field (), 4 years after completion; see Top-earning majors below.

Top-earning majors here

By earnings 4 years after completion

  1. Finance and Financial Management Services$84,262 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: Too few graduates to report

    4 years after completion$84,262
    National median: $83,343About typical

    Median federal debt: Too few graduates to report · 40 graduates, two most recent years combined

  2. Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing$82,814 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: $70,544

    4 years after completion$82,814
    National median: $88,910Below typical

    4 years out, Pell: $61,392 · Non-Pell: $64,485(an older graduating class than the figure above — see the (i) for why)

    Median federal debt: $25,000 · 255 graduates, two most recent years combined

  3. Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions$79,698 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: Too few graduates to report

    4 years after completion$79,698
    National median: $70,786Above typical

    Median federal debt: Too few graduates to report · 23 graduates, two most recent years combined

  4. Business Administration, Management and Operations$63,991 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: $41,061

    4 years after completion$63,991
    National median: $68,257Below typical

    Median federal debt: $26,000 · 118 graduates, two most recent years combined

  5. Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness$61,841 4 yrs out

    1 year after completion: $30,236

    4 years after completion$61,841
    National median: $54,562Above typical

    Median federal debt: $25,841 · 105 graduates, two most recent years combined

Bachelor's programs only, among graduates who received federal financial aid and were working (not enrolled in school) in the measurement year.

Students per faculty member vs. every college12 to 1
12 to 1
← Fewer students per facultyfewer students per faculty member than 59% of 1,892More students per faculty →

The college also reports 13 to 1 in its Common Data Set (2,525 students, 190 faculty).

Not the average class size: faculty also teach graduate students and do research, and large lectures can sit alongside small seminars.

Class sizes

50%

of classes have fewer than 20 students; 0% have 50 or more

Under 20 students 20 or moreStudents per class section
Undergraduate class sections by number of students
StudentssectionsShare
2–97215%
10–1916935%
20–2918238%
30–395211%
40–4931%
50–9920%
100+00%

This counts class sections, not students: a lecture of 300 is one section, so a student is more likely to sit in a large class than the share of sections suggests. Labs and discussion sections are counted separately and left out here.

Programs & curriculum

  • Accelerated program
  • Cross-registration
  • Distance learning
  • Double major
  • Dual enrollment
  • Honors program
  • Independent study
  • Internships
  • Liberal arts/career combination
  • Teacher certification
  • Study abroad

Requires coursework in arts, English composition, history, humanities, math, philosophy, a natural science, and social science.

Full-time faculty49%
National median: 67%Below typical
Average faculty salary

$76,716

9-month equated, all ranks combined. Pay tracks local cost of living as much as a college's generosity.

Spending and endowment

Fiscal 2023–24. Compared only against other private nonprofit colleges: public and private colleges report finances on different accounting forms that aren't comparable.

Instruction spending per student$11,447
$11,447
← Lessmore than 54% of 1,199More →
Endowment per student$20,916
$20,916
← Lessmore than 35% of 1,065More →

Sources:IPEDS Completions survey (degrees awarded by field), 2024–25 graduates;College Scorecard Field of Study data, most recent release;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part D), Fall 2024;IPEDS Salaries survey (SAL, instructional staff, all ranks), Fall 2024;College Scorecard, Fall 2024;IPEDS Finance survey, derived per-student figures, 2023–24;Bellarmine University Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2025;Bellarmine University Common Data Set 2025–26, 2025–26;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (athletics, programs, services, religious affiliation), 2025–26About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)