2025 Best Health & Physical Education Master's Degree Schools in Tennessee

Ranked #23 in popularity, health & physical education is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 10 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Health & Physical Education Master's Degree Schools in Tennessee ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 254 master's degrees in health & physical education during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Health & Physical Education School for Your Master's Degree

The phys ed master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality phys ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to health & physical education students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other health & physical education students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt health & physical education students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized health & physical education related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for health & physical education students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Health & Physical Education Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Health & Physical Education Master's Degree Schools in Tennessee ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Health & Physical Education in Tennessee

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in health & physical education.

10 Top Tennessee Schools for a Master's in Phys Ed

1

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, TN

50 Annual Graduates

$42,975 Median Starting Salary

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in health & physical education. Located in the midsize city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the phys ed program report average early career earnings of $42,975.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

2

East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN

28 Annual Graduates

$42,318 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat East Tennessee State University if you want to pursue a master's degree in health & physical education. Located in the small city of Johnson City, ETSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduating, phys ed master's recipients generally earn an average of $42,318 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from East Tennessee State University

3

Cumberland University
Lebanon, TN

10 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Cumberland University if you want to pursue a master's degree in health & physical education. Located in the town of Lebanon, CU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Cumberland University

4

University of Memphis
Memphis, TN

47 Annual Graduates

$38,915 Median Starting Salary

University of Memphis is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in health & physical education. UofM is a very large public university located in the large city of Memphis.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the phys ed program make around $38,915 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from University of Memphis

5

Belmont University
Nashville, TN

46 Annual Graduates

$41,813 Median Starting Salary

Belmont is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the phys ed program make an average of $41,813 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Belmont University

6

Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN

11 Annual Graduates

$39,958 Median Starting Salary

Middle Tennessee State University is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Murfreesboro.

After graduating, phys ed master's recipients generally earn around $39,958 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Middle Tennessee State University

7

Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, TN

20 Annual Graduates

$47,339 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Cookeville, Tennessee Tech University is a public university with a large student population.

Master's recipients from the health & physical education degree program at Tennessee Technological University earn $4,623 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Tennessee Technological University

8

Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN

18 Annual Graduates

$43,426 Median Starting Salary

Austin Peay State University is a moderately-sized public university located in the midsize city of Clarksville.

After graduation, phys ed master's recipients generally earn around $43,426 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Austin Peay State University

9

Tennessee State University
Nashville, TN

11 Annual Graduates

$44,988 Median Starting Salary

Tennessee State University is a medium-sized public university located in the city of Nashville.

Health & Physical Education master's degree recipients from Tennessee State University get an earnings boost of about $2,272 above the typical earnings of health & physical education graduates.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Tennessee State University

10

Tusculum University
Greeneville, TN

13 Annual Graduates

Tusculum is a small private not-for-profit university located in the distant town of Greeneville.More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Tusculum University

Best Health & Physical Education Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Health & Physical Education Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	409
Georgia	190	293
Virginia	182	417
North Carolina	178	194
Alabama	151	160
Kentucky	147	151
Louisiana	147	152
South Carolina	146	171
Mississippi	145	147
Arkansas	121	270
West Virginia	112	216

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Phys Ed

Health & Physical Education is one of 4 different types of Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies programs to choose from.

Phys Ed Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Sports Management	134
Exercise Science and Kinesiology	71
Sports Kinesiology and Physical Education/Fitness General	49

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.