Best Online Colleges in Tennessee of 2025

University Headquarters (HQ) is an industry-leading, independent educational organization that provides independent college rankings using a proprietary formula to create first class, unbiased rankings. The team at University HQ strives to provide accurate and trustworthy rankings that highlight the best programs in Tennessee.

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Employment of Tennessee’s civilian labor force shows a definite upward rise in employment numbers in recent months. From a low of 3,216.2 million people, the numbers showed a slow, steady increase.

For those students who hope to start school this year or graduate within the next couple of years, this can be a very important metric to keep your eye on. However, it’s also important to know that employment shift up and down within specific industries, as well. For example, the cyber security industry has registered a huge number of openings unfilled each year for nearly a decade.

Other roles that have had plenty of openings recently include those in nursing, retail, and others. If you’re uncertain of what field you are interested in, then you might want to consider figuring out what industries in your state need workers the most. That way, you’ll at least be certain that you can find a position in your field once you graduate.

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Online Higher Education in Tennessee

How many students are enrolled in Tennessee and in what format do they take their classes?

Colleges in Tennessee report that 333,810 students were enrolled in a recent school year. Of this number, 281,923 students were earning undergraduate degrees and 51,887 students were earning graduate degrees in the 2021-2022 academic year. Full-time students numbered 231,984 and graduate students numbered 101,826.

Looking at enrollment status, 199,290 undergraduate students were enrolled full-time while 82,633 attended part-time. There were 32,694 graduate students that attended full-time and 19,193 graduate students attended part-time.

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Many Tennessee students may have decided to earn online degrees. The numbers for these distance learners show that 89,180 enrolled solely in online courses. Another 106,857 were enrolled in some online programs, but also took some courses in traditional classrooms.
Why does the cost of tuition have such a big range?
With 184 colleges and universities in Tennessee, some of these schools are public and some are private. Each school charges its own tuition rate, and those schools which are public are subsidized by taxes. This allows them to charge a lower tuition rate for any students who live within the state. Private schools, on the other hand, are often more exclusive, which allows them to charge more. But they charge the same amount to students who attend from within or outside the state.
What are the-state and out-of-state tuition rates?
In-state tuition was $6,652 for students who were Tennessee residents and, for out-of-state students, this was $18,048. For graduate students, in-state tuition was $11,050 and, for out-of-state students, this figure was $21,486.

Our School Rankings Methodology

Before choosing a college or university, students and their parents might want to consider school rankings to help them figure out which schools would be the best for them. Our rankings found here are focused on those schools which offer online learning options for students. These may be online colleges or online universities, but more often than not these days, these programs are offered by regular institutions that are looking to expand accessibility, or just to keep up with the trends. For Tennessee students who already have jobs, or those who live in nearby states and aren’t interested in moving, online colleges in Tennessee may be the best option.

Our researchers pull data from various organizations to help determine which schools are the best, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They also find data on government websites related to the Department of Education and make use of private data-gathering sites that can help students know what the average salary of those in specific states or cities might be.

Data such as retention rates and graduation rates can help tell students and their families how well individual colleges and universities are educating their students.