A degree in physics is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #68 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Physics Schools in Tennessee ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 135 degrees in physics to qualified students.
The physics program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Physics rankings. For our Best Overall Physics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Physics Schools in Tennessee ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
The schools below may not offer all types of physics degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Vanderbilt University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in physics. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.
There were about 18 physics students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent data year.
It's hard to beat The University of Tennessee - Knoxville if you wish to pursue a degree in physics. UT Knoxville is a fairly large public university located in the city of Knoxville. This university ranks 2nd out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were approximately 50 physics students who graduated with this degree at UT Knoxville in the most recent data year.
Middle Tennessee State University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in physics. Located in the medium-sized city of Murfreesboro, Middle Tennessee State University is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 18th out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were roughly 8 physics students who graduated with this degree at Middle Tennessee State University in the most recent data year.
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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to A. T. Service.
The physics program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Physics rankings. For our Best Overall Physics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
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