Which Tennessee computer science program has the lowest debt?

Vanderbilt University reports the lowest median federal debt, $14,500, with first-year pay of $122,244.

How much do computer science graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 9 Tennessee computer science bachelor's programs is $59,567 in the first year after graduating and $88,444 five years after.

How many computer science bachelor's programs are in Tennessee?

9 Tennessee programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

Computer Science (Bachelor's) Programs in Tennessee, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

9 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Computer Science

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Tennessee computer science bachelor's program pays its graduates $59,567 in their first year, $10,833 less than the national median. Vanderbilt University reports the highest first-year pay ($122,244), and Vanderbilt University the lowest median debt ($14,500).

Median first-year pay$59,567National $70,400

Median pay after 5 years$88,444National $105,613

Median federal debt$23,086National $23,308

Debt-to-earnings40%National 34%

All 9 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	Vanderbilt UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$122,244	Not reported	$14,500	12%
2	University of TennesseeKnoxville · public	$70,193	$101,926	$16,750	24%
3	Tennessee Technological UniversityCookeville · public	$63,180	$92,817	$18,605	29%
4	Rhodes CollegeMemphis · private nonprofit	$60,225	Not reported	$25,982	43%
5	UT ChattanoogaChattanooga · public	$59,567	$88,444	$25,125	42%
6	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro · public	$57,653	$88,695	$21,500	37%
7	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$57,233	$79,929	$24,672	43%
8	Tennessee StateNashville · public	$50,628	$61,218	$27,724	55%
9	UT MartinMartin · public	$46,710	$69,380	Not reported	Not reported

UT Martin reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee computer science 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 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Vanderbilt University$122,244
University of Tennessee$70,193
Tennessee Technological University$63,180
Rhodes College$60,225
UT Chattanooga$59,567

Lowest median debt

Vanderbilt University$14,500
University of Tennessee$16,750
Tennessee Technological University$18,605
Middle Tennessee State$21,500
University of Memphis$24,672

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 computer science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Software Developers

$122,430

Median pay in Tennessee. 19,030 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 95,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $75,280Top 10%: $166,380

Computer and Information Systems Managers

$158,700

Median pay in Tennessee. 12,040 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $98,380Top 10%: $237,640

Data Scientists

$100,330

Median pay in Tennessee. 2,790 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $60,200Top 10%: $156,160

Information Security Analysts

$115,430

Median pay in Tennessee. 3,330 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $63,870Top 10%: $250,590

Common questions

Vanderbilt University in Nashville reports the highest median first-year pay, $122,244. Its median federal debt is $14,500.

Computer Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked331 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 computer science bachelor'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