Best ROI Colleges in Tennessee
Looking for value in Tennessee? Start here. We ranked these colleges by ROI - earnings premium (30%), payback period (25%), debt-to-earnings (20%), completion rate (15%), and loan repayment (10%) - all from U.S. Department of Education data, with no prestige guesswork in the mix.
10 schools ranked
Data: 2024-25 College Scorecard release
| # | School | ROI |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN | 97 |
| 2 | Rhodes College Memphis, TN | 73 |
| 3 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN | 73 |
| 4 | Baptist Health Sciences University Memphis, TN | 69 |
| 5 | The University of the South Sewanee, TN | 68 |
| 6 | Christian Brothers University Memphis, TN | 62 |
| 7 | Cumberland University Lebanon, TN | 62 |
| 8 | Lipscomb University Nashville, TN | 59 |
| 9 | King University Bristol, TN | 57 |
| 10 | Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, TN | 55 |
Related Reading
How We Rank
Rankings are based on our ROI score (0-100), which weights five quantifiable factors: Earnings Premium (30%), Payback Period (25%), Debt-to-Earnings (20%), Completion Rate (15%), and Loan Repayment (10%). All data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. No subjective criteria are used.
Full methodology →