Which Tennessee mechanical engineering program has the lowest debt?

Vanderbilt University reports the lowest median federal debt, $14,000, with first-year pay of $78,009.

How much do mechanical engineering graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 8 Tennessee mechanical engineering bachelor's programs is $67,121 in the first year after graduating and $88,130 five years after.

How many mechanical engineering bachelor's programs are in Tennessee?

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

Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's) Programs in Tennessee, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

8 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Tennessee mechanical engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $67,121 in their first year, $3,604 less than the national median. Vanderbilt University reports the highest first-year pay ($78,009), and Vanderbilt University the lowest median debt ($14,000).

Median first-year pay$67,121National $70,725

Median pay after 5 years$88,130National $91,554

Median federal debt$24,904National $24,730

Debt-to-earnings37%National 35%

All 8 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	$78,009	$101,152	$14,000	18%
2	Christian Brothers UniversityMemphis · private nonprofit	$71,112	Not reported	$27,000	38%
3	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$69,386	$86,402	$27,500	40%
4	Lipscomb UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$67,725	Not reported	$27,000	40%
5	UT ChattanoogaChattanooga · public	$66,517	$84,859	$24,904	37%
6	Tennessee Technological UniversityCookeville · public	$66,228	$88,130	$20,500	31%
7	University of TennesseeKnoxville · public	$65,756	$90,860	$23,250	35%
8	Tennessee StateNashville · public	$58,828	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Tennessee State reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee mechanical engineering 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

Lowest median debt

Vanderbilt University$14,000
Tennessee Technological University$20,500
University of Tennessee$23,250
UT Chattanooga$24,904
Christian Brothers University$27,000

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

Mechanical Engineers

$99,550

Median pay in Tennessee. 3,930 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $64,150Top 10%: $156,150

Cost Estimators

$75,650

Median pay in Tennessee. 4,340 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $42,440Top 10%: $120,990

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$161,430

Median pay in Tennessee. 3,600 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $105,980Top 10%: $239,240

Aerospace Engineers

$128,510

Median pay in Tennessee. 610 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $79,690Top 10%: $171,560

Common questions

Vanderbilt University in Nashville reports the highest median first-year pay, $78,009. Its median federal debt is $14,000.

Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked302 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 mechanical engineering 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