Which Tennessee music program has the lowest debt?

Tennessee Technological University reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,500, with first-year pay of $44,635.

How much do music graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 10 Tennessee music bachelor's programs is $27,470 in the first year after graduating and $38,564 five years after.

How many music bachelor's programs are in Tennessee?

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

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

10 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Music

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Tennessee music bachelor's program pays its graduates $27,470 in their first year, $1,938 more than the national median. Tennessee Technological University reports the highest first-year pay ($44,635), and Tennessee Technological University the lowest median debt ($17,500).

Median first-year pay$27,470National $25,532

Median pay after 5 years$38,564National $40,860

Median federal debt$23,227National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings80%National 92%

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	Tennessee Technological UniversityCookeville · public	$44,635	Not reported	$17,500	39%
2	Austin PeayClarksville · public	$39,008	Not reported	$31,000	79%
3	University of TennesseeKnoxville · public	$31,888	$38,564	$23,453	74%
4	East Tennessee StateJohnson City · public	$30,004	$24,436	$23,000	77%
5	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro · public	$27,586	$48,653	$22,608	82%
6	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$27,353	$46,852	$22,060	81%
7	Visible Music CollegeMemphis · private nonprofit	$25,929	Not reported	$27,000	104%
8	Belmont UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$24,016	$30,355	$25,988	108%
9	Tennessee StateNashville · public	$23,868	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	Lipscomb UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$19,352	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Tennessee State and Lipscomb University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee music 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

Tennessee Technological University$44,635
Austin Peay$39,008
University of Tennessee$31,888
East Tennessee State$30,004
Middle Tennessee State$27,586

Lowest median debt

Tennessee Technological University$17,500
University of Memphis$22,060
Middle Tennessee State$22,608
East Tennessee State$23,000
University of Tennessee$23,453

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

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$61,860

Median pay in Tennessee. 21,230 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,050Top 10%: $79,180

Sound Engineering Technicians

$60,500

Median pay in Tennessee. 510 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $42,230Top 10%: $158,160

Music Directors and Composers

$79,640

Median pay in Tennessee. 400 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $18,520Top 10%: $117,820

Common questions

Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville reports the highest median first-year pay, $44,635. Its median federal debt is $17,500.

Music (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked229 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 music 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