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2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee

9 Ranked Colleges
768 Degrees Awarded
$16,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor's in Tennessee

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 559,661 liberal arts general studies students received their degree, making the major the 1st most popular in the country. In 2017-2018, liberal arts general studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $26,786 and had an average of $16,538 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 10,620 liberal arts general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $27,038 and $17,881 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 768 liberal arts general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree in liberal arts general studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great liberal arts general studies programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the liberal arts general studies program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Liberal Arts 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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts General Studies in Tennessee

#1

Middle Tennessee State University

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Middle Tennessee State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Murfreesboro, Tennessee is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to 219 students in 2019-2020.

Middle Tennessee State University also took the #2 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Middle Tennessee State University is $12,464 for tennessee bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.

Full Middle Tennessee State University Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#2

Tennessee Technological University

Cookeville, Tennessee

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, Tennessee Technological University landed the #2 spot on the list. Tennessee Tech University is a public institution located in Cookeville, Tennessee. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Tennessee Tech University also took the #3 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Tennessee Tech University is $15,929 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Tennessee Tech University Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#3

East Tennessee State University

Johnson City, Tennessee

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend East Tennessee State University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. This fairly large school is located in Johnson City, Tennessee, and it awarded 124 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

ETSU also made our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $14,332 for tennessee bachelor’s degree liberal arts students per year to attend ETSU.

Full East Tennessee State University Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#4

University of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Memphis. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. UofM is a large public school situated in Memphis, Tennessee. It awarded 112 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UofM, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UofM is $13,248 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at University of Memphis

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee. The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga is a fairly large school located in Chattanooga, Tennessee that handed out 18 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Chattanooga did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The estimated yearly cost for The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga is $12,952 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.

Full The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#6

Tennessee State University

Nashville, Tennessee

Tennessee State University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Tennessee State University is located in Nashville, Tennessee and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 10 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.

Tennessee State University also made our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #9. It costs about $12,443 for tennessee bachelor’s degree liberal arts students per year to attend Tennessee State University.

Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at Tennessee State University

#7

Austin Peay State University

Clarksville, Tennessee

With a ranking of #7, Austin Peay State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Austin Peay State University is located in Clarksville, Tennessee and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 113 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.

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

Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at Austin Peay State University

#8

Lee University

Cleveland, Tennessee

With a ranking of #8, Lee University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Lee University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Cleveland, Tennessee. It awarded 56 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Lee University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The estimated yearly cost for Lee University is $17,696 for tennessee bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.

Full Lee University Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#9

Belmont University

Nashville, Tennessee

Belmont University landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee ranking. This medium-sized school is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and it awarded 31 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our tennessee bachelor’s degree liberal arts students list, Belmont has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. It costs about $35,548 for tennessee bachelor’s degree liberal arts students per year to attend Belmont University.

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%.

Full Belmont University Liberal Arts General Studies Report

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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.

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