Colleges in Tennessee With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Median earnings four years after graduation at the 37 four-year colleges we rank in Tennessee run from $101,204 at the top to $34,393 at the bottom, a spread of $66,811.
The median college sits at $56,202, which is $3,201 (5%) below the national median of $59,403. Public colleges (10) have a median of $54,167 and private nonprofit colleges (25) a median of $58,282, and the typical net price across the list is $18,878.
Vanderbilt University ranks first at $101,204, ahead of Baptist Health Sciences University ($73,191) and Lincoln Memorial University ($69,633).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by earnings after 4 years, highest 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)
- A reported earnings after 4 years value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Tennessee has 37
- Data period
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- 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.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 37 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $101,204 | $15,846 | $14,000 | 93% | 7,208 |
| 2 | Baptist Health Sciences University Memphis, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $73,191 | $11,212 | $29,500 | 46% | 770 |
| 3 | Lincoln Memorial University Harrogate, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $69,633 | $20,406 | $20,000 | 52% | 1,572 |
| 4 | Christian Brothers University Memphis, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $68,058 | $9,854 | $27,000 | 55% | 905 |
| 5 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN Public · 4-year | $67,631 | $18,976 | $20,500 | 74% | 30,418 |
| 6 | Rhodes College Memphis, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $65,427 | $28,585 | $21,761 | 83% | 1,836 |
| 7 | Trevecca Nazarene University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,175 | $16,813 | $18,744 | 54% | 1,737 |
| 8 | The University of the South Sewanee, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $63,966 | $27,872 | $22,855 | 81% | 1,607 |
| 9 | Lipscomb University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $63,007 | $24,739 | $19,500 | 70% | 2,997 |
| 10 | Bethel University (TN) McKenzie, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $62,152 | $12,595 | $27,249 | 35% | 1,547 |
| 11 | King University Bristol, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $61,394 | $22,347 | $22,750 | 47% | 908 |
| 12 | Union University Jackson, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $60,152 | $27,171 | $20,714 | 68% | 1,607 |
| 13 | Fisk University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $58,830 | $32,020 | $27,000 | 35% | 1,035 |
| 14 | Southern Adventist University Collegedale, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $58,282 | $24,345 | $24,500 | 50% | 2,773 |
| 15 | Cumberland University Lebanon, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $58,091 | $18,759 | $17,952 | 46% | 2,104 |
| 16 | University of Memphis Memphis, TN Public · 4-year | $57,507 | $12,397 | $23,300 | 50% | 12,701 |
| 17 | Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, TN Public · 4-year | $57,413 | $14,246 | $15,650 | 56% | 8,698 |
| 18 | The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN Public · 4-year | $57,377 | $14,265 | $19,500 | 52% | 10,074 |
| 19 | Belmont University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $56,202 | $33,147 | $20,500 | 71% | 7,137 |
| 20 | Milligan University Milligan, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $55,216 | $21,365 | $25,219 | 62% | 818 |
| 21 | Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN Public · 4-year | $54,525 | $13,359 | $20,000 | 54% | 16,301 |
| 22 | Carson-Newman University Jefferson City, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $53,936 | $20,251 | $21,500 | 50% | 1,387 |
| 23 | Tennessee State University Nashville, TN Public · 4-year | $53,808 | $15,796 | $27,000 | 33% | 4,848 |
| 24 | Tennessee Wesleyan University Athens, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $53,707 | $14,836 | $20,000 | 46% | 846 |
| 25 | East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN Public · 4-year | $53,033 | $15,983 | $19,442 | 52% | 10,004 |
| 26 | South College Knoxville, TN For-profit · 4-year | $52,540 | $17,858 | $18,668 | 40% | 8,745 |
| 27 | Austin Peay State University Clarksville, TN Public · 4-year | $52,456 | $9,735 | $20,547 | 42% | 7,560 |
| 28 | Bryan College-Dayton Dayton, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $51,604 | $20,614 | $23,000 | 53% | 814 |
| 29 | Tusculum University Greeneville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $51,271 | $21,131 | $23,250 | 28% | 785 |
| 30 | Freed-Hardeman University Henderson, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $50,701 | $21,574 | $21,500 | 70% | 1,212 |
| 31 | Maryville College Maryville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $49,454 | $19,360 | $25,375 | 49% | 1,005 |
| 32 | The University of Tennessee-Martin Martin, TN Public · 4-year | $47,898 | $10,701 | $21,024 | 54% | 4,866 |
| 33 | Lee University Cleveland, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $47,559 | $18,878 | $25,750 | 62% | 2,617 |
| 34 | The University of Tennessee Southern Pulaski, TN Public · 4-year | $46,181 | $12,798 | $21,500 | 36% | 864 |
| 35 | Johnson University Knoxville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $42,004 | $22,063 | $21,500 | 59% | 743 |
| 36 | Lane College Jackson, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | $38,716 | $10,904 | $30,500 | 18% | 736 |
| 37 | Miller-Motte College-Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN For-profit · 4-year | $34,393 | $23,958 | $15,917 | 59% | 4,462 |
How to compare these colleges
High earnings partly reflect who enrolls and what they study: engineering, nursing and business programs usually pay more than education or the arts, so a school with strong health or technical programs can top the list. Read the earnings next to net price, debt and graduation rate, because earnings count only people who finished, and four years after graduation is early in a career.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for Tennessee
Cheapest colleges in Tennessee
36 schools
Cheap colleges in Tennessee for out-of-state students
23 schools
Community colleges in Tennessee
13 schools
Best value colleges in Tennessee
29 schools
Most affordable private colleges in Tennessee
26 schools
Same list in nearby states
Highest graduate earnings in Georgia
49 schools
Highest graduate earnings in North Carolina
48 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Virginia
40 schools
All 58 colleges in Tennessee See the national version of this ranking