Private colleges, unlike large public institutions, can be a great option for students wanting a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Here is our list of the best private colleges in Tennessee.
About one third of the higher learning institutes in Tennessee are public schools. Students who attend these schools can expect to pay anywhere between $4,000 to $13,000 in tuition and have the option to pursue degrees in fields such as economics, history, nursing, literature, education, and criminal justice. Tennessee’s largest public school, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, boasts some impressive alumni, including Oprah Winfrey, Kurt Vonnegut, and Cormac McCarthy. The private school alumni are equally as notable. For example, author James Patterson and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus both attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Find college admissions consultants in your state.
Tennessee also offers nearly 30 religiously affiliated schools, the largest being Belmont University in Nashville, located just blocks from the famous Music Row. Here, students can study a wide range of fields including Christian leadership, audio engineering technology, and biophysics. Additionally, Tennessee offers students several loan forgiveness programs. Math and science teachers, minority teachers, and registered nurses interested in becoming teachers or administrators who meet certain requirements may be eligible.
Tennessee is home to mouthwatering barbecues, electrified blues, and the sweeping majesty of the Smoky Mountains National Park. And with access to countless historic sites, unique museums, and lush green spaces, students attending one of the more than 60 colleges and universities in The Volunteer State will have plenty to do and see in their downtime.
Discover more about the top programs and higher education learning opportunities available in Tennessee.
Public and private colleges and universities operate under different business models — one is a private company with private funding; the other is owned by the state and receives both state and federal funding to operate. If you’re weighing the pros and cons of private vs. public college, consider that many public colleges provide diverse course offerings, influential professors, and an excellent return on your investment.
Public colleges are schools that receive most of their funding from tax revenues. As a result, the cost of a four-year degree at a public university is often lower than the equivalent cost at a private college — especially for students attending a public school in their home state. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board for full-time students) at a four-year public university was slightly over $20,000. In contrast, private universities cost, on average, nearly $43,000 annually.
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
This list is composed entirely of private colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 27 private universities in Tennessee, 20 of which satisfy our criteria. The list below of the best private universities in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
Tuition + fees
$54K
Acceptance
12%
Graduation
93%
Student body
11K
Median SAT/ACT
1510/34
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Vanderbilt University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$51K
Acceptance
51%
Graduation
82%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1325/29
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Rhodes College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$47K
Acceptance
56%
Graduation
80%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1245/27
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Sewanee: The University of the South’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$22K
Acceptance
66%
Graduation
51%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1040/21
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Fisk University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$17K
Acceptance
51%
Graduation
47%
Student body
1K
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Bryan College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$23K
Acceptance
74%
Graduation
53%
Student body
3K
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Southern Adventist University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$23K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
53%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1100/22
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Lincoln Memorial University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
62%
Graduation
45%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1141/24
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Maryville College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$30K
Acceptance
79%
Graduation
52%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/24
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Carson–Newman University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
50%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1097/22
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King University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$26K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
36%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/20
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Tusculum University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
62%
Graduation
69%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/26
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Lipscomb University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$20K
Acceptance
83%
Graduation
63%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1070/24
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Lee University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$25K
Acceptance
54%
Graduation
54%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1005/20
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Cumberland University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$23K
Acceptance
58%
Graduation
66%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1170/26
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Union University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
50%
Graduation
57%
Student body
2K
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Christian Brothers University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$27K
Acceptance
63%
Graduation
56%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1179/23
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Trevecca Nazarene University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$23K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
66%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1130/24
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Freed–Hardeman University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$26K
Acceptance
61%
Graduation
48%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1045/22
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Tennessee Wesleyan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
83%
Graduation
71%
Student body
8K
Median SAT/ACT
1225/26
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Belmont University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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