by our College Data Analytics TeamWith all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Top Tennessee Colleges ranking is part of that endeavor.
After analyzing 41 schools in Tennessee, we came up with our list of those that offered the highest quality education. To come up with this ranking, we look at more than 20 factors that are all objective measurements. These factors include freshman retention, graduation rate, student-to-faculty ratio, and post graduate earnings, among other things.
Find out more about our ranking methodology.
Since one ranking on its own is not enough to give you a complete understanding of your educational options, you can refine this list by location and field of study. We've also developed a number of other tools and rankings based on other factors. These other rankings highlight colleges that excel in other factors such as value or diversity as well as schools that excel in serving different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Vanderbilt University tops this year’s ranking as the best school in Tennessee for overall quality.
Bachelor’s degree students at the school tend to finish their degree on-time. The 4-year graduation rate is 88%, which is impressive compared to the national rate of 33%. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt make an average of $91,565 per year during the early years of their career.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Tennessee.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. During the early years of their career, graduates from UT Knoxville make an average of $60,249 a year.
Out of the 41 schools in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, Belmont University landed the #3 spot on the list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Belmont is $55,930 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #4 on our Best Colleges in Tennessee list means Southern Adventist University is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Southern Adventist make an average of $53,723 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Union University. The school came in at #5 in Tennessee on this year’s overall quality ranking.
The student-to-faculty rate of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Union go into careers with an average salary of $53,990 during the early years of their career.
Lincoln Memorial University did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking, coming in at #6.
The student-to-faculty rate of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from LMU is $49,956 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #7, Sewanee - The University of the South did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
The school boasts an average 4-year graduation rate of 76%, which is excellent when compared to the national rate of 33%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $64,911 during the early years of their career..
Lipscomb University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Lipscomb is $55,541 during the early years of their career.
Rhodes College did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking, coming in at #9.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $66,651 during the early years of their career..
With a ranking of #10, Jackson State Community College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from JSCC go into careers with an average salary of $35,224 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #11, East Tennessee State University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
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% Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from ETSU go into careers with an average salary of $44,859 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #12, University of Memphis did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from UofM is $48,458 during the early years of their career.
Southwest Tennessee Community College ranked #13 on this year’s Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Southwest make an average of $34,071 per year during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #14, Chattanooga State Community College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Chattanooga State Community College is $37,598 during the early years of their career.
Freed-Hardeman University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $47,485 during the early years of their career..
The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga landed the #16 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from UT Chattanooga make an average of $51,151 per year during the early years of their career.
Lee University landed the #17 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Lee University is $43,222 during the early years of their career.
Middle Tennessee State University landed the #18 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. During the early years of their career, graduates from Middle Tennessee State University make an average of $48,541 a year.
Tennessee Technological University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Tech University go into careers with an average salary of $48,501 during the early years of their career.
Cumberland University did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking, coming in at #20.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $57,687 during the early years of their career..
Pellissippi State Community College ranked #21 on this year’s Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $38,440 during the early years of their career..
With a ranking of #22, Carson - Newman University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Carson - Newman go into careers with an average salary of $48,382 during the early years of their career.
Volunteer State Community College landed the #23 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from VSCC go into careers with an average salary of $41,150 during the early years of their career.
Bethel University came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Bethel make an average of $47,482 per year during the early years of their career.
Austin Peay State University landed the #25 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Tennessee ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Austin Peay State University go into careers with an average salary of $44,301 during the early years of their career.
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.