2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k

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 Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 6,199 people earned their degree in public policy, making the major the 116th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,077 and had an average of $35,743 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 92 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $56,300 and $37,495 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in public policy. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public policy 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 public policy program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The public policy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k”.

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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for tennessee public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in Tennessee

#1

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee

#1 in overall quality

$3,156 Average Net Price

$67,244 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Vanderbilt University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 62 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

Vanderbilt also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend Vanderbilt is $3,156 for tennessee public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. 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 loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Vanderbilt

#2

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

#3 in overall quality

$10,224 Average Net Price

$43,722 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Knoxville, Tennessee, and it awarded 11 ’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Knoxville also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $10,224 for tennessee public policy students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend The University of Tennessee - Knoxville.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Public Policy at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

#3

Trevecca Nazarene University

Nashville, Tennessee

#2 in overall quality

$15,228 Average Net Price

$55,950 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Trevecca Nazarene University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k. Nashville, Tennessee is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at TNU, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The yearly cost to attend TNU is $15,228 for tennessee public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full TNU Public Policy Report

#4

University of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

#4 in overall quality

$10,256 Average Net Price

$38,610 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Memphis. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, this large public school handed out 1 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

UofM not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Tennessee” list. The estimated yearly cost for UofM is $10,256 for Tennessee Public Policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full University of Memphis Public Policy Report

• Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k)

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 The Official CTBTO Photostream.

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