Tennessee State Sociology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Sociology
- Public university
- Nashville, TN
- About 9 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Tennessee State sociology graduates earn about what sociology graduates earn nationally, $34,884 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $37,500 in federal loans, more than at 97% of sociology programs in the country. Two other Tennessee programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Tennessee and national columns are the medians across all sociology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee sociology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Tennessee medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $398 a month, or 13.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
91% of graduates (20 of 22) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating. Prices in the Nashville area are about 4% below the national average, so a $34,884 salary here buys what about $36,210 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to sociology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Social Science Research Assistants
$46,410Median pay in Tennessee. 140 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Sociologists
$106,030Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 200 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About Tennessee State
Sociology ranks 10th of 21 bachelor's programs at Tennessee State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($65,331), Mechanical Engineering ($58,828), and Accounting ($53,620).
Other sociology bachelor's programs near Nashville
Common questions
The median graduate earns $34,884 one year after graduating. The median across sociology bachelor's programs in Tennessee is $33,261.
The median federal loan balance is $37,500, which ranks 7th lowest of 8 sociology bachelor's programs in Tennessee. That works out to about $398 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 107% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%. Compare the cost with other Tennessee programs before deciding.
Most do. 91% (20 of 22) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Tennessee comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the sociology program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024