Which Tennessee business administration program has the lowest debt?

Roane State Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $6,000, with first-year pay of $29,823.

How much do business administration graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 13 Tennessee business administration associate's programs is $32,334 in the first year after graduating and $38,946 five years after.

How many business administration associate's programs are in Tennessee?

13 Tennessee programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

Business Administration (Associate's) Programs in Tennessee, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

13 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Associate's in Business Administration, Management and Operations

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Tennessee business administration associate's program pays its graduates $32,334 in their first year, $2,281 less than the national median. Cleveland State Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($50,301), and Roane State Community College the lowest median debt ($6,000).

Median first-year pay$32,334National $34,615

Median pay after 5 years$38,946National $44,516

Median federal debt$12,940National $13,418

Debt-to-earnings26%National 38%

All 13 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Cleveland State Community CollegeCleveland · public	$50,301	$44,034	$8,750	17%
2	Volunteer State Community CollegeGallatin · public	$40,513	$45,721	$10,718	26%
3	Chattanooga State Community CollegeChattanooga · public	$36,486	$32,830	$15,162	42%
4	Nashville State Community CollegeNashville · public	$34,306	$44,371	$15,687	46%
5	Southwest Tennessee Community CollegeMemphis · public	$32,879	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Pellissippi State Community CollegeKnoxville · public	$32,529	$39,896	$8,540	26%
7	Jackson State Community CollegeJackson · public	$32,334	$23,736	Not reported	Not reported
8	Columbia State Community CollegeColumbia · public	$31,640	$44,182	Not reported	Not reported
9	Roane State Community CollegeHarriman · public	$29,823	$40,112	$6,000	20%
10	Walters State Community CollegeMorristown · public	$25,882	$33,490	Not reported	Not reported
11	Miller-Motte College-ChattanoogaChattanooga · private for-profit	$23,907	$28,532	$30,649	128%
12	Dyersburg State Community CollegeDyersburg · public	$22,410	$37,179	Not reported	Not reported
13	Northeast State Community CollegeBlountville · public	$18,572	$37,995	Not reported	Not reported

6 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee business administration 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 the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Cleveland State Community College$50,301
Volunteer State Community College$40,513
Chattanooga State Community College$36,486
Nashville State Community College$34,306
Southwest Tennessee Community College$32,879

Lowest median debt

Roane State Community College$6,000
Pellissippi State Community College$8,540
Cleveland State Community College$8,750
Volunteer State Community College$10,718
Chattanooga State Community College$15,162

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$106,970

Median pay in Tennessee. 63,720 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $50,820Top 10%: $230,660

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$66,390

Median pay in Tennessee. 49,870 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $43,650Top 10%: $103,790

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$47,880

Median pay in Tennessee. 26,470 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $28,520Top 10%: $76,300

Project Management Specialists

$85,890

Median pay in Tennessee. 20,780 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $56,450Top 10%: $135,350

Common questions

Cleveland State Community College in Cleveland reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,301. Its median federal debt is $8,750.

Business Administration (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked337 programs by pay and debt Business Administration (Bachelor's) programs in Tennessee, ranked28 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the business administration associate's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024