Which Tennessee marketing program has the lowest debt?

Tennessee Technological University reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,425, with first-year pay of $39,990.

How much do marketing graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 10 Tennessee marketing bachelor's programs is $40,825 in the first year after graduating and $52,397 five years after.

How many marketing bachelor's programs are in Tennessee?

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

Marketing (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 Marketing

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Tennessee marketing bachelor's program pays its graduates $40,825 in their first year, $3,742 less than the national median. Belmont University reports the highest first-year pay ($46,968), and Tennessee Technological University the lowest median debt ($17,425).

Median first-year pay$40,825National $44,567

Median pay after 5 years$52,397National $64,125

Median federal debt$21,819National $24,250

Debt-to-earnings50%National 53%

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	Belmont UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$46,968	$52,670	Not reported	Not reported
2	University of TennesseeKnoxville · public	$46,896	$62,427	$19,500	42%
3	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$43,986	$51,803	$21,904	50%
4	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro · public	$43,612	$62,637	$20,708	47%
5	Lipscomb UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$41,660	Not reported	$24,625	59%
6	Tennessee Technological UniversityCookeville · public	$39,990	$50,694	$17,425	44%
7	Union UniversityJackson · private nonprofit	$38,886	Not reported	$23,250	60%
8	UT MartinMartin · public	$36,397	$52,397	$17,548	48%
9	East Tennessee StateJohnson City · public	$35,632	$45,416	$21,819	61%
10	Austin PeayClarksville · public	$31,334	Not reported	$23,291	74%

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee marketing 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

Belmont University$46,968
University of Tennessee$46,896
University of Memphis$43,986
Middle Tennessee State$43,612
Lipscomb University$41,660

Lowest median debt

Tennessee Technological University$17,425
UT Martin$17,548
University of Tennessee$19,500
Middle Tennessee State$20,708
East Tennessee State$21,819

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

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

$69,790

Median pay in Tennessee. 13,040 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $39,480Top 10%: $134,740

Sales Managers

$128,040

Median pay in Tennessee. 12,270 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $67,220Top 10%: $231,830

Marketing Managers

$131,990

Median pay in Tennessee. 7,730 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 34,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $78,790Top 10%: $222,680

Web and Digital Interface Designers

$63,510

Median pay in Tennessee. 3,610 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,510Top 10%: $83,220

Common questions

Belmont University in Nashville reports the highest median first-year pay, $46,968.

Marketing (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked471 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 marketing 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