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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Journalism in Tennessee

8 Ranked Colleges
286 Degrees Awarded
$21,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor's in Tennessee

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Journalism is the 62nd most popular major in the country with 14,528 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, journalism graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,042 and had an average of $24,628 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 296 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,900 and $22,800 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 286 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in journalism. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent journalism programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the journalism program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Journalism Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee

The colleges and universities below are the best for tennessee bachelor’s degree journalism students.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Journalism in Tennessee

#1

Middle Tennessee State University

Murfreesboro, Tennessee
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, Middle Tennessee State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Middle Tennessee State University is a public institution located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The school has a large population, and it awarded 122 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Middle Tennessee State University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The yearly cost to attend Middle Tennessee State University is $12,464 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students.

Read more about Journalism at Middle Tennessee State University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Tennessee - Knoxville. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. UT Knoxville is a large public school situated in Knoxville, Tennessee. It awarded 81 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Knoxville not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The estimated yearly cost for UT Knoxville is $18,825 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students.

The low student loan default rate of 4.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Read more about Journalism at UT Knoxville

#3

University of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Memphis. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee. UofM is located in Memphis, Tennessee and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 44 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.

UofM not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The yearly cost to attend UofM is $13,248 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students.

Full University of Memphis Journalism Report

#4

Union University

Jackson, Tennessee
#5 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, Union University landed the #4 spot on the list. Union University is a small school located in Jackson, Tennessee that handed out 6 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

Union also took the #5 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Union is $28,249 for tennessee bachelor’s degree journalism students.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The low student loan default rate of 4.1% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Journalism at Union

#5

Austin Peay State University

Clarksville, Tennessee
#8 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Austin Peay State University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee. This fairly large school is located in Clarksville, Tennessee, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

Austin Peay State University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The yearly cost to attend Austin Peay State University is $13,692 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students.

Read more about Journalism at Austin Peay State University

#6

Southern Adventist University

Collegedale, Tennessee
#7 in overall quality

Southern Adventist University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee ranking. This small school is located in Collegedale, Tennessee, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

Southern Adventist also made our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #7. The yearly cost to attend Southern Adventist University is $22,661 for tennessee bachelor’s degree journalism students.

Read more about Journalism at Southern Adventist University

#7

Lipscomb University

Nashville, Tennessee

Lipscomb University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Lipscomb is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Nashville, Tennessee. It awarded 7 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

Lipscomb also took the #3 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Lipscomb is $24,749 for tennessee bachelor’s degree journalism students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Journalism at Lipscomb

#8

Belmont University

Nashville, Tennessee
#2 in overall quality

With a ranking of #8, Belmont University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Belmont is a private not-for-profit institution located in Nashville, Tennessee. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 22 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Belmont, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Belmont is $35,548 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Journalism at Belmont

Notes and References

References

  • 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 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).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Jfurrer.

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