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2025 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Tennessee

10 Colleges in Tennessee
2,310 Bachelor's Degrees
$26,804 Avg Early-Career Salary
a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #9 out of 38 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.

College Factual looked at 10 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Tennessee ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,310 bachelor's degrees in visual & performing arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Visual & Performing Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Tennessee The visual & performing arts bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for visual & performing arts students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Visual & Performing Arts Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Visual & Performing Arts Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Tennessee 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. 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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Visual & Performing Arts in Tennessee

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for visual & performing arts students seeking a a bachelor's degree.

10 Top Tennessee Schools for a Bachelor's in Visual & Performing Arts

1
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
98 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts needs to check out Vanderbilt University. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Vanderbilt University

2
Belmont crest
Belmont University
Nashville, TN
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
641 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts has to take a look at Belmont University. Located in the large city of Nashville, Belmont is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Belmont University

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
124 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat The University of Tennessee - Knoxville if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts. UT Knoxville is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Knoxville.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
506 Annual Graduates

Middle Tennessee State University is a good decision for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts. Located in the midsize city of Murfreesboro, Middle Tennessee State University is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Middle Tennessee State University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
146 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Memphis, UofM is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of Memphis

6
Lee University crest
Lee University
Cleveland, TN
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
59 Annual Graduates

Lee University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Cleveland.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Lee University

7
76 Annual Graduates

UT Chattanooga is a large public university located in the city of Chattanooga.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga

8
42 Annual Graduates

Tennessee Tech University is a fairly large public university located in the remote town of Cookeville.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Tennessee Technological University

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
86 Annual Graduates

ETSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Johnson City.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from East Tennessee State University

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
68 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Clarksville, Austin Peay State University is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Austin Peay State University

Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
North Carolina 34 2,522
Mississippi 34 432
Florida 34 5,296
Virginia 34 2,570
Alabama 33 1,019
Georgia 33 3,360
West Virginia 32 347
South Carolina 32 1,157
Kentucky 31 894
Louisiana 31 928
Arkansas 30 723

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Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Music 587
Arts & Media Management 532
Fine & Studio Arts 492
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 233
Design & Applied Arts 231
Drama & Theater Arts 173
General Visual & Performing Arts 54
Dance 8

Notes and References

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