2022 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income Over $110k) in Tennessee

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Vallue Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making Over $110k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Public Policy is the 116th most popular major in the country with 6,199 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,077 and had an average of $35,743 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 92 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $56,300 and $37,495 respectively.

This year’s “Best Vallue Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making Over $110k” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in public policy. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public policy programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public policy program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Vallue Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making Over $110k” list to help you make the college decision.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

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Best Vallue Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making Over $110k

The colleges and universities below are the best for tennessee public policy students whose families make more than $110k.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income Over $110k) in Tennessee

#1

Trevecca Nazarene University

Nashville, Tennessee

#2 in overall quality

$17,499 Average Net Price

$55,950 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Trevecca Nazarene University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Vallue Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making Over $110k list. Trevecca Nazarene University is a small school located in Nashville, Tennessee that handed out 2 ’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

TNU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Tennessee” list. It costs about $17,499 for tennessee public policy students whose families make more than $110k per year to attend TNU.

Read full report on Public Policy at TNU

#2

University of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

#4 in overall quality

$13,248 Average Net Price

$38,610 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Vallue Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making Over $110k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Memphis landed the #2 spot on the list. UofM is a public institution located in Memphis, Tennessee. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UofM also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #4. The yearly cost to attend UofM is $13,248 for tennessee public policy students whose families make more than $110k.

Read more about Public Policy at University of Memphis

#3

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

#3 in overall quality

$18,825 Average Net Price

$43,722 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Vallue Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making Over $110k that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Knoxville, Tennessee, this large public school awarded 11 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

UT Knoxville also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in Tennessee” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend UT Knoxville is $18,825 for Tennessee Public Policy students whose families make more than $110k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Public Policy at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

#4

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee

#1 in overall quality

$19,432 Average Net Price

$67,244 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Vanderbilt University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Vallue Public Policy Schools in Tennessee For Those Making Over $110k. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 62 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Vanderbilt, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Tennessee” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Vanderbilt University is $19,432 for tennessee public policy students whose families make more than $110k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Public Policy at Vanderbilt University

• Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income Over $110k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income Over $110k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to The Official CTBTO Photostream.

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