Private university in Lexington, KY. that is the first university in Kentucky. It offers 36 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Its medical program graduated 8,000 physicians by 1859.

Transylvania's name, meaning "across the woods" in Latin, stems from the university's founding in the heavily forested region of western Virginia known as the Transylvania Colony, which became most of Kentucky in 1792.

Transylvania is the alma mater of two U.S. vice presidents, two U.S. Supreme Court justices, 50 U.S. senators, 101 U.S. representatives, 36 U.S. governors, 34 U.S. ambassadors, and one Confederate President, making it a large producer of U.S. statesmen.

The university is located on a 48-acre (19.4-hectare) urban campus about four blocks from the center of the city of Lexington, Kentucky. It has 24 buildings, 3 athletic fields, 4 dining areas, and a National Historic Landmark. The campus is divided by North Broadway: to the East stand the academic buildings of the university; to the West, most of the residential buildings.