Best Value Colleges in Tennessee
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical Tennessee high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 29 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 1.0 years at the fastest to 12.3 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 3.4 years to repay its net price, 0.2 years longer than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (8) have a median payback of 2.5 years against 3.8 years for the 21 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
Vanderbilt University ranks first at 1.0 years, ahead of Christian Brothers University (1.2 years) and Baptist Health Sciences University (1.2 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Tennessee
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Tennessee has 29
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 29 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.0 years | $15,846 | $101,204 | $14,000 | 93% |
| 2 | Christian Brothers University Memphis, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.2 years | $9,854 | $68,058 | $27,000 | 55% |
| 3 | Baptist Health Sciences University Memphis, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.2 years | $11,212 | $73,191 | $29,500 | 46% |
| 4 | University of Memphis Memphis, TN Public · 4-year | 2.2 years | $12,397 | $57,507 | $23,300 | 50% |
| 5 | Austin Peay State University Clarksville, TN Public · 4-year | 2.2 years | $9,735 | $52,456 | $20,547 | 42% |
| 6 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN Public · 4-year | 2.3 years | $18,976 | $67,631 | $20,500 | 74% |
| 7 | Trevecca Nazarene University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $16,813 | $64,175 | $18,744 | 54% |
| 8 | Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $20,406 | $69,633 | $20,000 | 52% |
| 9 | The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN Public · 4-year | 2.5 years | $14,265 | $57,377 | $19,500 | 52% |
| 10 | Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, TN Public · 4-year | 2.5 years | $14,246 | $57,413 | $15,650 | 56% |
| 11 | Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN Public · 4-year | 2.7 years | $13,359 | $54,525 | $20,000 | 54% |
| 12 | Tennessee Wesleyan University Athens, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $14,836 | $53,707 | $20,000 | 46% |
| 13 | Cumberland University Lebanon, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.2 years | $18,759 | $58,091 | $17,952 | 46% |
| 14 | The University of Tennessee-Martin Martin, TN Public · 4-year | 3.3 years | $10,701 | $47,898 | $21,024 | 54% |
| 15 | King University Bristol, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $22,347 | $61,394 | $22,750 | 47% |
| 16 | East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN Public · 4-year | 3.5 years | $15,983 | $53,033 | $19,442 | 52% |
| 17 | Lipscomb University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.5 years | $24,739 | $63,007 | $19,500 | 70% |
| 18 | Rhodes College Memphis, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $28,585 | $65,427 | $21,761 | 83% |
| 19 | The University of the South Sewanee, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.8 years | $27,872 | $63,966 | $22,855 | 81% |
| 20 | Southern Adventist University Collegedale, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.1 years | $24,345 | $58,282 | $24,500 | 50% |
| 21 | Carson-Newman University Jefferson City, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.2 years | $20,251 | $53,936 | $21,500 | 50% |
| 22 | Milligan University Milligan, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.2 years | $21,365 | $55,216 | $25,219 | 62% |
| 23 | Union University Jackson, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.3 years | $27,171 | $60,152 | $20,714 | 68% |
| 24 | Bryan College-Dayton Dayton, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.9 years | $20,614 | $51,604 | $23,000 | 53% |
| 25 | Maryville College Maryville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.3 years | $19,360 | $49,454 | $25,375 | 49% |
| 26 | Freed-Hardeman University Henderson, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.4 years | $21,574 | $50,701 | $21,500 | 70% |
| 27 | Lee University Cleveland, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.9 years | $18,878 | $47,559 | $25,750 | 62% |
| 28 | Belmont University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 6.2 years | $33,147 | $56,202 | $20,500 | 71% |
| 29 | Johnson University Knoxville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 12.3 years | $22,063 | $42,004 | $21,500 | 59% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for Tennessee
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Most affordable private colleges in Tennessee
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Same list in nearby states
Best value colleges in North Carolina
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Best value colleges in Virginia
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Best value colleges in Missouri
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All 58 colleges in Tennessee See the national version of this ranking