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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences in Tennessee

9 Ranked Colleges
151 Degrees Awarded
$14,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor's in Tennessee

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Geological & Earth Sciences is the 84th most popular major in the country with 8,918 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, geological and earth sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $35,533 and had an average of $23,531 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 204 geological and earth sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,550 and $25,709 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 151 geological and earth sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree in geological and earth sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent geological and earth sciences programs, but they also 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 geological and earth sciences program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Geological & Earth Sciences Schools

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

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee

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

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences in Tennessee

#1

Middle Tennessee State University

Murfreesboro, Tennessee
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Middle Tennessee State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee. Middle Tennessee State University is a large school located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee that handed out 33 bachelors’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Middle Tennessee State University, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. It costs about $12,464 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Geology students per year to attend Middle Tennessee State University.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at Middle Tennessee State University

#2

Tennessee Technological University

Cookeville, Tennessee

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Tennessee Technological University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Tennessee Tech University is a fairly large school located in Cookeville, Tennessee that handed out 13 bachelors’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our tennessee bachelor’s degree geology students list, Tennessee Tech University has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. It costs about $15,929 for tennessee bachelor’s degree geology students per year to attend Tennessee Technological University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at Tennessee Technological University

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville landed the #3 spot on the list. UT Knoxville is a large school located in Knoxville, Tennessee that handed out 33 bachelors’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our tennessee bachelor’s degree geology students list, UT Knoxville has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is $18,825 for tennessee bachelor’s degree geology students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. 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%.

Full The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#4

East Tennessee State University

Johnson City, Tennessee

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, East Tennessee State University landed the #4 spot on the list. Johnson City, Tennessee is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s geology degrees to 15 students in 2019-2020.

ETSU also made our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #5. It costs about $14,332 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Geology students per year to attend East Tennessee State University.

Full East Tennessee State University Geological & Earth Sciences Report

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga landed the #5 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UT Chattanooga, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga is $12,952 for tennessee bachelor’s degree geology students.

Full UT Chattanooga Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#6

University of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

University of Memphis did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee ranking, coming in at #6. Memphis, Tennessee is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s geology degrees to 21 students in 2019-2020.

UofM also made our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #7. It costs about $13,248 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Geology students per year to attend UofM.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at University of Memphis

#7

Austin Peay State University

Clarksville, Tennessee

Austin Peay State University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee ranking. Austin Peay State University is a fairly large school located in Clarksville, Tennessee that handed out 8 bachelors’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

Austin Peay State University also made our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #8. The estimated yearly cost for Austin Peay State University is $13,692 for tennessee bachelor’s degree geology students.

Full Austin Peay State University Geological & Earth Sciences Report

The University of Tennessee - Martin did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee ranking, coming in at #8. UT Martin is a public institution located in Martin, Tennessee. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Martin did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The yearly cost to attend UT Martin is $10,955 for tennessee bachelor’s degree geology students.

Full The University of Tennessee - Martin Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#9

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee
#1 in overall quality

Vanderbilt University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Nashville, Tennessee is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s geology degrees to 10 students in 2019-2020.

Vanderbilt did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The estimated yearly cost for Vanderbilt is $19,432 for tennessee bachelor’s degree geology students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 8 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 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%.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at Vanderbilt

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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.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Kelvinsong.

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