Sociology is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #25 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 9 schools in Tennessee to determine which ones were the best for sociology students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 428 degrees in sociology during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Your choice of sociology school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Sociology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Sociology Schools in Tennessee ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the sociology degree levels they offer.
Vanderbilt University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in sociology. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.
There were roughly 58 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent year we have data available.
It's difficult to beat The University of Tennessee - Knoxville if you want to pursue a degree in sociology. Located in the midsize city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #173 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UT Knoxville is a great university overall.
There were about 105 sociology students who graduated with this degree at UT Knoxville in the most recent data year. Those sociology students who get their degree from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville make $5,083 more than the average sociology graduate.
Every student who is interested in sociology needs to check out University of Memphis. UofM is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Memphis. A Best Colleges rank of #748 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UofM is a great university overall.
There were approximately 41 sociology students who graduated with this degree at UofM in the most recent data year. After graduation, sociology degree recipients typically earn around $28,073 in the first five years of their career.
Any student pursuing a degree in sociology has to take a look at Middle Tennessee State University. Middle Tennessee State University is a fairly large public university located in the city of Murfreesboro. This university ranks 12th out of 45 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were roughly 28 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Middle Tennessee State University in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the sociology program state that they receive average early career wages of $25,896.
Located in the small city of Johnson City, ETSU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #851 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means ETSU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 34 sociology students who graduated with this degree at ETSU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the sociology program state that they receive average early career income of $19,138.
Tennessee Tech University is a moderately-sized public university located in the remote town of Cookeville. This university ranks 20th out of 45 colleges for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were approximately 55 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Tennessee Tech University in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the sociology program earn an average of $28,661 in the first couple years of their career.
Tennessee State University is a medium-sized public university located in the large city of Nashville. This university ranks 28th out of 45 colleges for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were about 11 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Tennessee State University in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the sociology major at Tennessee State University get $3,708 above the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the city of Jackson, Lane College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
There were about 19 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Lane College in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the sociology program report average early career income of $23,937.
Austin Peay State University is a medium-sized public university located in the city of Clarksville. This university ranks 29th out of 45 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were approximately 31 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Austin Peay State University in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the sociology program make around $27,796 in their early career salary.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).