Which Tennessee nursing program has the lowest debt?

Tennessee Technological University reports the lowest median federal debt, $18,349, with first-year pay of $61,379.

How much do nursing graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 27 Tennessee nursing bachelor's programs is $67,072 in the first year after graduating and $74,229 five years after. Registered nurses in Tennessee earn a median of $81,500 across all experience levels.

How many nursing bachelor's programs are in Tennessee?

27 Tennessee programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 26 of them also report federal debt.

Nursing (BSN) Programs in Tennessee, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

27 programs report first-year pay
26 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Tennessee nursing bachelor's program pays its graduates $67,072 in their first year, $7,366 less than the national median. Baptist Health Sciences University reports the highest first-year pay ($74,962), and Tennessee Technological University the lowest median debt ($18,349).

Median first-year pay$67,072National $74,438

Median pay after 5 years$74,229National $81,525

Median federal debt$26,684National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings40%National 36%

All 27 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	Baptist Health Sciences UniversityMemphis · private nonprofit	$74,962	$76,562	$47,500	63%
2	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$73,680	$75,543	$27,168	37%
3	UT MartinMartin · public	$71,727	$75,442	$25,231	35%
4	Bethel University (Tennessee)McKenzie · private nonprofit	$71,315	Not reported	$25,000	35%
5	University of Tennessee Health Science CenterMemphis · public	$70,619	$81,386	$29,537	42%
6	Milligan UniversityMilligan · private nonprofit	$70,523	$55,582	$27,000	38%
7	Trevecca Nazarene UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$69,533	$80,875	Not reported	Not reported
8	Union UniversityJackson · private nonprofit	$68,399	$79,882	$29,127	43%
9	Austin PeayClarksville · public	$68,235	$73,897	$27,576	40%
10	King UniversityBristol · private nonprofit	$68,012	$80,332	$25,000	37%
11	Lee UniversityCleveland · private nonprofit	$67,930	Not reported	$25,300	37%
12	University of Tennessee SouthernPulaski · public	$67,349	$63,105	$25,683	38%
13	Cumberland UniversityLebanon · private nonprofit	$67,094	$80,903	$29,250	44%
14	Belmont UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$67,072	$72,897	$25,625	38%
15	Southern Adventist UniversityCollegedale · private nonprofit	$66,005	$82,724	$28,191	43%
16	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro · public	$65,839	$78,482	$27,884	42%
17	Tennessee StateNashville · public	$65,331	$78,099	$31,000	47%
18	University of TennesseeKnoxville · public	$65,298	$74,229	$23,292	36%
19	UT ChattanoogaChattanooga · public	$65,273	$72,248	$23,558	36%
20	South CollegeKnoxville · private for-profit	$65,109	$70,203	$42,916	66%
21	Lipscomb UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$64,954	$69,023	$26,623	41%
22	Freed-Hardeman UniversityHenderson · private nonprofit	$64,784	$61,302	$24,800	38%
23	East Tennessee StateJohnson City · public	$64,459	$74,304	$25,091	39%
24	Tennessee Technological UniversityCookeville · public	$61,379	$63,546	$18,349	30%
25	Lincoln Memorial UniversityHarrogate · private nonprofit	$59,588	$64,106	$27,750	47%
26	Tusculum UniversityGreeneville · private nonprofit	$57,543	$71,163	$26,744	46%
27	Carson-Newman UniversityJefferson City · private nonprofit	$56,509	$67,483	$25,000	44%

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

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

Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee nursing 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 26 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Baptist Health Sciences University$74,962
University of Memphis$73,680
UT Martin$71,727
Bethel University (Tennessee)$71,315
University of Tennessee Health Science Center$70,619

Lowest median debt

Tennessee Technological University$18,349
University of Tennessee$23,292
UT Chattanooga$23,558
Freed-Hardeman University$24,800
Bethel University (Tennessee)$25,000

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.

What registered nurses earn in Tennessee

Pay for registered nurses in Tennessee, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Registered Nurses

$81,500

Median pay in Tennessee. 72,200 people work in this job in Tennessee. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 180,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $63,970Top 10%: $104,920

Common questions

Baptist Health Sciences University in Memphis reports the highest median first-year pay, $74,962. Its median federal debt is $47,500.

Nursing (BSN) programs in the US, ranked895 programs by pay and debt Nursing (ADN) 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 nursing 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