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2022 Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee

8 Ranked Colleges
425 Degrees Awarded
$18,700 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor's in Tennessee

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Economics is the 18th most popular major in the country with 48,831 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, economics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $47,295 and had an average of $21,978 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 478 economics graduates with average earnings and debt of $50,633 and $20,232 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 425 economics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in economics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality economics 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 economics program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Economics 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 Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee

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

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Tennessee - Knoxville. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. This large school is located in Knoxville, Tennessee, and it awarded 39 bachelors’s economics degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Knoxville also made our “Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is $18,825 for tennessee bachelor’s degree economics 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Economics at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

#2

Middle Tennessee State University

Murfreesboro, Tennessee
#5 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 #2 for the Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee. Murfreesboro, Tennessee is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s economics degrees to 8 students in 2019-2020.

Middle Tennessee State University also took the #5 spot in our “Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Middle Tennessee State University is $12,464 for tennessee bachelor’s degree economics students.

Read more about Economics at Middle Tennessee State University

#3

University of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee
#6 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Memphis landed the #3 spot on the list. University of Memphis is a public institution located in Memphis, Tennessee. The school has a large population, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UofM did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The yearly cost to attend UofM is $13,248 for tennessee bachelor’s degree economics students.

Read full report on Economics at UofM

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee. UT Chattanooga is a public institution located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Chattanooga not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The yearly cost to attend The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga is $12,952 for tennessee bachelor’s degree economics students.

Full UT Chattanooga Economics Report

#5

East Tennessee State University

Johnson City, Tennessee
#8 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend East Tennessee State University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee. East Tennessee State University is located in Johnson City, Tennessee and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 bachelors’s economics degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at ETSU, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend East Tennessee State University is $14,332 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Economics students.

Read full report on Economics at East Tennessee State University

Sewanee - The University of the South came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee ranking. This small school is located in Sewanee, Tennessee, and it awarded 62 bachelors’s economics degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Sewanee, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Sewanee - The University of the South is $30,474 for tennessee bachelor’s degree economics students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The low student loan default rate of 3.2% 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%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Sewanee - The University of the South Economics Report

#7

Rhodes College

Memphis, Tennessee

Rhodes College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee ranking. Memphis, Tennessee is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s economics degrees to 25 students in 2019-2020.

Rhodes College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” list. The estimated yearly cost for Rhodes College is $27,540 for tennessee bachelor’s degree economics students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 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. 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 full report on Economics at Rhodes College

#8

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee

Vanderbilt University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Economics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Tennessee list. Vanderbilt University is located in Nashville, Tennessee and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 257 bachelors’s economics degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our tennessee bachelor’s degree economics students list, Vanderbilt has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Vanderbilt is $19,432 for Tennessee Bachelor’s Degree Economics students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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 more about Economics at Vanderbilt

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 pixabay.

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