Which Tennessee liberal arts and general studies program has the lowest debt?

Tennessee Technological University reports the lowest median federal debt, $21,000, with first-year pay of $33,678.

How much do liberal arts and general studies graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 10 Tennessee liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs is $37,437 in the first year after graduating and $47,032 five years after.

How many liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs are in Tennessee?

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

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) Programs in Tennessee, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

10 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Tennessee liberal arts and general studies bachelor's program pays its graduates $37,437 in their first year, $1,280 more than the national median. Lee University reports the highest first-year pay ($45,678), and Tennessee Technological University the lowest median debt ($21,000).

Median first-year pay$37,437National $36,157

Median pay after 5 years$47,032National $48,575

Median federal debt$28,979National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings76%National 73%

All 10 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	Lee UniversityCleveland · private nonprofit	$45,678	$42,674	$28,979	63%
2	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro · public	$45,074	$51,748	$29,723	66%
3	Union UniversityJackson · private nonprofit	$41,320	$45,443	Not reported	Not reported
4	Belmont UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$41,245	$73,156	$29,438	71%
5	Tennessee StateNashville · public	$37,716	$60,054	$38,562	102%
6	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$37,158	$47,098	$38,972	105%
7	Austin PeayClarksville · public	$35,745	$43,136	$27,128	76%
8	Tennessee Technological UniversityCookeville · public	$33,678	$47,032	$21,000	62%
9	East Tennessee StateJohnson City · public	$32,474	$41,482	$25,000	77%
10	Cumberland UniversityLebanon · private nonprofit	$23,264	Not reported	$28,476	122%

Union University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee liberal arts and general studies 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 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lee University$45,678
Middle Tennessee State$45,074
Union University$41,320
Belmont University$41,245
Tennessee State$37,716

Lowest median debt

Tennessee Technological University$21,000
East Tennessee State$25,000
Austin Peay$27,128
Cumberland University$28,476
Lee University$28,979

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.

Common questions

Lee University in Cleveland reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,678. Its median federal debt is $28,979.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked395 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in Tennessee, ranked15 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 liberal arts and general studies 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