Best Training programs in Kentucky, ranked by enrollment
Design or conduct work-related training and development programs to improve individual skills or organizational performance.
12 schools in Kentucky run programs that feed this job, graduating 288 people a year. The job pays a median of $61,390 in Kentucky across about 6,090 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Kentucky that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Kentucky that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Kentucky (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Kentucky page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 13.0501In Kentucky → | 97 | 33.7% | 5 | $40,786 | $33,629 |
| 2 | CIP 09.0901In Kentucky → | 67 | 23.3% | 4 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 3 | CIP 52.1001In Kentucky → | 67 | 23.3% | 5 | $49,084 | $26,536 |
| 4 | CIP 42.2804In Kentucky → | 31 | 10.8% | 2 | $33,805 | $27,000 |
| 5 | CIP 13.1201In Kentucky → | 26 | 9.0% | 2 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
Top 12 schools in Kentucky
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 12 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY Public · 3 feeder programs | 94 | Educational/Instructional Technology | — | 56% | — | 94% |
| 2 | Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY Public · 3 feeder programs | 46 | Educational/Instructional Technology | — | 50% | — | 78% |
| 3 | University of Kentucky Lexington, KY Public · 2 feeder programs | 45 | Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General | — | 71% | — | 93% |
| 4 | Sullivan University Louisville, KY Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General | — | 71% | $29,703 | — |
| 5 | Murray State University Murray, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Organizational Communication, General | $38,054 | 61% | — | 86% |
| 6 | Morehead State University Morehead, KY Public · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching | $36,198 | 52% | — | 77% |
| 7 | Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Industrial and Organizational Psychology | — | 52% | — | 68% |
| 8 | Campbellsville University Campbellsville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General | — | 42% | $18,824 | 80% |
| 9 | Asbury University Wilmore, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Educational/Instructional Technology | — | 65% | $19,816 | 63% |
| 10 | Brighton Center's Center for Employment Training Newport, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General | — | 27% | $10,813 | — |
| 11 | Interactive College of Technology - Newport Newport, KY Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General | — | 30% | $16,359 | — |
| 12 | Spalding University Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Organizational Communication, General | — | 52% | $23,661 | 99% |
All 12 schools in Kentucky
Every school in Kentucky with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green | Public | 94 | 3 |
| Eastern Kentucky University | Richmond | Public | 46 | 3 |
| University of Kentucky | Lexington | Public | 45 | 2 |
| Sullivan University | Louisville | Private for-profit | 29 | 1 |
| Murray State University | Murray | Public | 26 | 1 |
| Morehead State University | Morehead | Public | 20 | 2 |
| Northern Kentucky University | Highland Heights | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Campbellsville University | Campbellsville | Private not-for-profit | 7 | 1 |
| Asbury University | Wilmore | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Brighton Center's Center for Employment Training | Newport | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Interactive College of Technology - Newport | Newport | Private for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| Spalding University | Louisville | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What training and development specialists earn in Kentucky
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $69,280. Kentucky pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Kentucky
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Training and Development Specialists page.
How to become a Training
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Kentucky
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 7 majors mapped to Training and Development Specialists7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0901Organizational Communication, General
- 13.0501Educational/Instructional Technology
- 13.1201Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching
- 42.2804Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- 52.1001Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
- 52.1005Human Resources Development
- 52.1006Executive/Career Coaching
Common questions
Answers for people weighing training and development specialists programs in Kentucky.
What degree do you need to become a Training?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Educational/Instructional Technology, which awarded 97 degrees in Kentucky in 2024-25, 33.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Training?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Educational/Instructional Media Design, Public Relations, Human Resources Management and Services, Clinical, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 288 people a year in Kentucky.
How much do training and development specialists earn in Kentucky?+
The median is $61,390 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.4% below the U.S. median of $69,280. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for training and development specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +10.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 43,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Kentucky?+
12 institutions in Kentucky reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do training and development specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Corporate Trainer, Training Specialist, Job Training Specialist, Learning and Development Specialist (L and D Specialist) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-1151.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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