2021 Best Colleges in Tennessee Badge

2021 Best Colleges in Tennessee by Salary Score

By the GradReports team | Updated 3/1/2021

We calculated a Salary Score for each college in Tennessee to compare the first-year earnings of alumni from each college to earnings for alumni with the same major at other colleges. The Salary Scores on this list represent the combined scores for all the bachelor's degree programs at a college and indicate how alumni from all majors at a specific school performed. Vanderbilt University, for example, is ranked first in Tennessee because it has a Salary Score of 90.46. It also ranks #36 on our 2021 list of Best Colleges in the U.S.

To be considered for our state rankings, schools must offer and provide data for at least 8 bachelor's programs. You can click on a school's name to view individual program scores. Read our methodology to learn more about how schools were ranked.

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Salary Scores based on data reported by the U.S. Department of Education
Rank School Location Annual Tuition Salary Score
#1 #1 Vanderbilt University Nashville Nashville $52,070 90.46
#2 #2 Trevecca Nazarene University Nashville Nashville $26,098 56.71
#3 #3 Rhodes College Memphis Memphis $49,198 49.00
#4 #4 Belmont University Nashville Nashville $35,650 46.57
#5 #5 Sewanee-The University of the South Sewanee Sewanee $46,472 46.45
#6 #6 Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro Murfreesboro $9,070 42.43
#7 #7 The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Knoxville Knoxville $13,264 39.09
#8 #8 Tusculum University Greeneville Greeneville $24,860 38.74
#9 #9 Lipscomb University Nashville Nashville $33,424 37.41
#10 #10 Freed-Hardeman University Henderson Henderson $22,950 37.18
#11 #11 Maryville College Maryville Maryville $35,578 34.79
#12 #12 Union University Jackson Jackson $33,750 34.27
#13 #13 Lee University Cleveland Cleveland $18,770 34.13
#14 #14 The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga Chattanooga Chattanooga $9,656 33.40
#15 #15 Southern Adventist University Collegedale Collegedale $22,520 32.38
#16 #16 Austin Peay State University Clarksville Clarksville $8,303 31.28
#17 #17 Tennessee State University Nashville Nashville $9,012 30.68
#18 #18 University of Memphis Memphis Memphis $9,912 29.74
#19 #19 Tennessee Tech University Cookeville Cookeville $8,934 29.22
#20 #20 Carson-Newman University Jefferson City Jefferson City $28,900 28.13
#21 #21 The University of Tennessee - Martin Martin Martin $9,748 25.11
#22 #22 East Tennessee State University Johnson City Johnson City $9,259 19.27
#23 #23 King University Bristol Bristol $30,616 18.78