Cumberland University is a private not-for-profit institution in Lebanon, Tennessee enrolling 2,104 undergraduates. It accepts 67% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 46%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #779 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 15%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Cumberland University ranks #779 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 15%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Cumberland University was awarded 73 badges in the 2027 rankings.
CU is ranked #779 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
CU is also ranked #12 on the Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
See all of the rankings for Cumberland University.
The acceptance rate at Cumberland University is a competitive 67%, so make sure you take your application seriously when putting it together. Even leaving out a minor detail could be a reason to move you to the rejection pile.
Learn more about Cumberland University admissions.
At Cumberland University, the student to faculty ratio is 19 to 1. Compared to the national average of 15 to 1, this is somewhat high. This could mean that class sizes may be larger than they are at other colleges or universities or that professors may be required to teach more classes.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Cumberland University is 33%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate is a sign of how many full-time students like a college or university well enough to come back for their sophomore year. At Cumberland University this rate is 59%, which is a bit lower than the national average of 68%.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At CU the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 46%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Cumberland University.
In the current academic year, there are 2,104 undergraduates at CU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Cumberland University.
The average net price of CU is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $17,882 | $18,048 | $19,609 | $20,333 | $20,917 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of CU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At CU, approximately 19% of students took out student loans averaging $5,996 a year. That adds up to $23,984 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.2%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Cumberland University.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Cumberland University with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $57,687 in their early years. That’s great news for Cumberland University students since it is 17% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Cumberland University make the most money.
Cumberland University is a private not-for-profit institution found in Lebanon, Tennessee. The surrounding location of Lebanon is ideal for students who enjoy the charms of a college town. Get more details about the location of Cumberland University.
Contact information for Cumberland University are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1 Cumberland Square, Lebanon, TN 37087 |
| Phone: | 61544425621222 |
| Website: | www.cumberland.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/CumberlandUniversity |
| Twitter: | www.twitter.com/CumberlandU |
In the latest year of available data, students from 17 majors graduated from Cumberland University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 866 | NA |
| Information Technology | 153 | NA |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 141 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 82 | $42,570 |
| Business & Commerce | 80 | NA |
| Health & Physical Education | 58 | NA |
| Nursing | 46 | $55,549 |
| Criminal Justice & Corrections | 32 | $31,267 |
| General Education | 29 | $42,566 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 27 | $41,151 |
1,053 students took at least one online class at Cumberland University.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Cumberland University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to CU? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References