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2022 Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid

10 Ranked Colleges
631 Degrees Awarded
$18,900 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid” ranking.

General Education is the 35th most popular major in the country with 29,936 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, general education graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $47,138 and had an average of $29,674 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 631 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $42,940 and $25,412 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer a degree in general education. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general education programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the general education program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid.

Top 10 Best Value Colleges for General Education in Tennessee (With Aid)

#1

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Vanderbilt University landed the #1 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and it awarded 9 ’s education degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Vanderbilt, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” ranking. It costs about $19,432 for Tennessee Education students with aid per year to attend Vanderbilt.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low student loan default rate of 1.0% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Vanderbilt General Education Report

#2

Christian Brothers University

Memphis, Tennessee

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Christian Brothers University landed the #2 spot on the list. Christian Brothers University is located in Memphis, Tennessee and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 22 ’s education degrees to qualified students.

Christian Brothers not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” list. It costs about $11,900 for tennessee education students with aid per year to attend Christian Brothers University.

Read full report on General Education at Christian Brothers University

#3

Maryville College

Maryville, Tennessee
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Maryville College landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 7 diplomas to qualified ’s education students in 2019-2020.

Maryville College also made our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend Maryville College is $19,886 for Tennessee Education students with aid.

Read full report on General Education at Maryville College

#4

Austin Peay State University

Clarksville, Tennessee

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Austin Peay State University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid list. Austin Peay State University is a fairly large school located in Clarksville, Tennessee that handed out 46 ’s education degrees in 2019-2020.

Austin Peay State University also made our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #9. The yearly cost to attend Austin Peay State University is $13,692 for Tennessee Education students with aid.

Full Austin Peay State University General Education Report

#5

Bethel University

McKenzie, Tennessee

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bethel University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid list. Located in McKenzie, Tennessee, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 26 degrees to qualified ’s education students in 2019-2020.

Bethel also took the #10 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Bethel University is $15,701 for Tennessee Education students with aid.

Read more about General Education at Bethel

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid ranking. The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is a large school located in Knoxville, Tennessee that handed out 57 ’s education degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our tennessee education students with aid list, UT Knoxville has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is $18,825 for Tennessee Education students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about General Education at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

#7

Tusculum University

Greeneville, Tennessee

Tusculum University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid ranking. Tusculum University is a small school located in Greeneville, Tennessee that handed out 95 ’s education degrees in 2019-2020.

Tusculum also took the #8 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Tusculum University is $17,537 for tennessee education students with aid.

Read full report on General Education at Tusculum University

#8

Milligan University

Milligan College, Tennessee

Milligan University landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid ranking. Milligan University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Milligan College, Tennessee. The school has a small population, and it awarded 22 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Milligan, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Milligan University is $19,806 for Tennessee Education students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 3.6% 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 impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about General Education at Milligan University

#9

Union University

Jackson, Tennessee

Union University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid list. Union University is located in Jackson, Tennessee and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 26 ’s education degrees to qualified students.

Union did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” list. It costs about $28,249 for tennessee education students with aid per year to attend Union.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. 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.

Full Union General Education Report

#10

Cumberland University

Lebanon, Tennessee

With a ranking of #10, Cumberland University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools in Tennessee For Those Getting Aid list. This small school is located in Lebanon, Tennessee, and it awarded 22 ’s education degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our tennessee education students with aid list, CU has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best General Education Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for CU is $24,458 for Tennessee Education students with aid.

Read full report on General Education at CU

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 KOKUYO.

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