At first, it was a training school for preachers, but soon business and liberal arts classes were added to the curriculum.

In 1890, the school was moved to Winchester and soon after, women began to be admitted for the first time.

James Cousins (2025-)[6] Kentucky Wesleyan offers 30 majors and 13 pre-professional programs[7] and has a student-to-faculty ratio of 13:1.

[2] Their campus includes buildings for academics, administration, student residence halls, and athletic facilities.

These range from campus ministry, student government, Greek life, academic, and other special interest clubs.

[14] Kentucky Wesleyan, as a private Christian college, has partnerships with twelve churches of various denominations as well as on-campus services and religious organizations.

[15] The Kentucky Wesleyan (KWU) athletic teams are called the Panthers.

The college is a member of the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) as a founding member since the 2013–14 academic year.

The Panthers previously competed as a charter member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) from 1978–79 to 2011–12 (but was fulfilling its commitments to the final year of competition for its other sports in the GLVC as a full member for the 2012–13 school year; before beginning competition as a full G-MAC member).

They also competed in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC; now currently known as the River States Conference (RSC) since the 2016–17 school year) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1916–17 to 1954–55.

KWU competes in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: men's teams include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading.

[16] The men's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship Game six consecutive years (1998–2003), winning in 1999 and 2001 under the direction of Ray Harper.