Tennessee·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-1011

Best Business Teacher, Postsecondary programs in Tennessee, ranked by enrollment

Teach courses in business administration and management, such as accounting, finance, human resources, labor and industrial relations, marketing, and operations research.

56 schools in Tennessee run programs that feed this job, graduating 10,550 people a year. The job pays a median of $85,950 in Tennessee across about 1,260 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledProfessorInstructorBusiness ProfessorBusiness InstructorTeacherLecturerFaculty MemberBanking Teacher
Graduates / yr
10,550
in Tennessee
Median pay · Tennessee
$85,950
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,260
people employed
Schools
56
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
46%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,854
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Tennessee that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.02
Business Administration
5,805graduates / yr
51 schools · 8 specializations · 54.8% of pipeline
Grad earnings $43,506
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.14
Marketing
1,284graduates / yr
23 schools · 3 specializations · 12.2% of pipeline
Grad earnings $44,670
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.03
Accounting and Related Services
1,044graduates / yr
28 schools · 3 specializations · 9.9% of pipeline
Grad earnings $51,824
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.08
Finance and Financial Management Services
907graduates / yr
19 schools · 2 specializations · 8.5% of pipeline
Grad earnings $53,572
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.13
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
556graduates / yr
8 schools · 3 specializations · 5.3% of pipeline
Grad earnings $62,069
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.01
Business/Commerce
539graduates / yr
11 schools · 1 specialization · 5.1% of pipeline
Grad earnings $44,700
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.10
Human Resources Management and Services
188graduates / yr
11 schools · 2 specializations · 1.8% of pipeline
Grad earnings $49,084
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.07
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
180graduates / yr
11 schools · 1 specialization · 1.7% of pipeline
Grad earnings $43,803
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.11
International Business
30graduates / yr
5 schools · 1 specialization · 0.3% of pipeline
Grad earnings $51,261
Health Professions And Related Programs
CIP 51.07
Health and Medical Administrative Services
7graduates / yr
1 schools · 1 specialization · 0.1% of pipeline
Grad earnings $30,774
Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
CIP 52.05
Business/Corporate Communications
6graduates / yr
1 schools · 1 specialization · 0.1% of pipeline
Grad earnings $41,000
Education
CIP 13.13
Teacher Education and Professional Development
4graduates / yr
3 schools · 1 specialization · 0.0% of pipeline
Grad earnings $43,033

27 programs in Tennessee that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Tennessee (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Tennessee page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.0201In Tennessee
4,552
43.1%
51$43,506$25,000
2
CIP 52.1401In Tennessee
1,261
12.0%
23$44,670$24,250
3
CIP 52.0301In Tennessee
1,002
9.5%
28$51,824$24,433
4
CIP 52.0801In Tennessee
902
8.5%
19$53,572$23,672
5
CIP 52.0203In Tennessee
540
5.1%
9$43,506$25,000
6
CIP 52.0101In Tennessee
539
5.1%
11$44,700$24,000
7
CIP 52.0213In Tennessee
446
4.2%
14$43,506$25,000
8
CIP 52.1301In Tennessee
333
3.2%
8$62,069$23,500
9
CIP 52.1302In Tennessee
213
2.0%
2$62,069$23,500
10
CIP 52.0701In Tennessee
180
1.7%
11$43,803$23,374
11
CIP 52.1001In Tennessee
178
1.7%
11$49,084$26,536
12
CIP 52.0211In Tennessee
140
1.3%
5$43,506$25,000
13
CIP 52.0205In Tennessee
67
0.6%
2$43,506$25,000
14
CIP 52.0206In Tennessee
45
0.4%
7$43,506$25,000
15
CIP 52.1101In Tennessee
30
0.3%
5$51,261$23,361
16
CIP 52.0304In Tennessee
27
0.3%
3$51,824$24,433
17
CIP 52.1404In Tennessee
22
0.2%
2$44,670$24,250
18
CIP 52.0305In Tennessee
15
0.1%
3$51,824$24,433
19
CIP 52.0210In Tennessee
13
0.1%
1$43,506$25,000
20
CIP 52.1003In Tennessee
10
0.1%
1$49,084$26,536
21
CIP 52.1304In Tennessee
10
0.1%
1$62,069$23,500
22
CIP 51.0702In Tennessee
7
0.1%
1$30,774$17,375
23
CIP 52.0501In Tennessee
6
0.1%
1$41,000$26,000
24
CIP 52.0804In Tennessee
5
0.0%
1$53,572$23,672
25
CIP 13.1303In Tennessee
4
0.0%
3$43,033$26,044
26
CIP 52.0202In Tennessee
2
0.0%
2$43,506$25,000
27
CIP 52.1499In Tennessee
1
0.0%
1$44,670$24,250

Top 25 schools in Tennessee

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 42 of the 56 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, TN Public · 8 feeder programs
2,288Marketing/Marketing Management, General$46,89674%42%
2Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN Public · 8 feeder programs
732Business Administration and Management, General$44,60854%69%
3University of Memphis
Memphis, TN Public · 11 feeder programs
726Business Administration and Management, General$47,61151%72%
4The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN Public · 8 feeder programs
555Business Administration and Management, General$45,30850%81%
5East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN Public · 8 feeder programs
488Business Administration and Management, General$37,04153%86%
6Miller - Motte College - Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN Private for-profit · 5 feeder programs
450Business Administration and Management, General$23,90760%$26,425
7Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN Public · 9 feeder programs
351Business Administration and Management, General$38,75040%96%
8Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, TN Public · 6 feeder programs
322Business Administration and Management, General$38,99458%76%
9Trevecca Nazarene University
Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs
255Business Administration and Management, General$47,54753%$14,28669%
10Strayer University - Tennessee
Nashville, TN Private for-profit · 9 feeder programs
254Business/Commerce, General$55,4310%$18,466
11The University of Tennessee - Martin
Martin, TN Public · 4 feeder programs
243Business Administration and Management, General$41,27953%88%
12Bethel University
McKenzie, TN Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
224Organizational Leadership$49,10635%$21,32460%
13Belmont University
Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs
223Business/Commerce, General$39,32571%$29,24695%
14Lipscomb University
Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs
195Business Administration and Management, General$51,37972%$24,30968%
15Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
185Organizational Leadership94%$14,8546%
16Tennessee State University
Nashville, TN Public · 3 feeder programs
172Business Administration and Management, General$40,07734%70%
17Cumberland University
Lebanon, TN Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs
170Business/Commerce, General46%$19,20667%
18South College
Knoxville, TN Private for-profit · 11 feeder programs
161Business Administration and Management, General42%$20,346
19Pellissippi State Community College
Knoxville, TN Public · 2 feeder programs
157Business Administration and Management, General$32,52931%
20Union University
Jackson, TN Private not-for-profit · 7 feeder programs
146Business Administration and Management, General$58,20166%$25,88260%
21Volunteer State Community College
Gallatin, TN Public · 3 feeder programs
137Business Administration and Management, General$40,51328%
22Carson - Newman University
Jefferson City, TN Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs
136Business Administration and Management, General$42,90453%$19,53790%
23Lincoln Memorial University
Harrogate, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
134Business Administration and Management, General50%$18,98163%
24Christian Brothers University
Memphis, TN Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs
125Business Administration and Management, General$37,59955%$11,06387%
25Lee University
Cleveland, TN Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs
124Business Administration and Management, General$40,19363%$18,91871%

All 56 schools in Tennessee

Every school in Tennessee with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Tennessee that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
The University of Tennessee - KnoxvilleKnoxvillePublic2,2888
Middle Tennessee State UniversityMurfreesboroPublic7328
University of MemphisMemphisPublic72611
The University of Tennessee - ChattanoogaChattanoogaPublic5558
East Tennessee State UniversityJohnson CityPublic4888
Miller - Motte College - ChattanoogaChattanoogaPrivate for-profit4505
Austin Peay State UniversityClarksvillePublic3519
Tennessee Technological UniversityCookevillePublic3226
Trevecca Nazarene UniversityNashvillePrivate not-for-profit2558
Strayer University - TennesseeNashvillePrivate for-profit2549
The University of Tennessee - MartinMartinPublic2434
Bethel UniversityMcKenziePrivate not-for-profit2244
Belmont UniversityNashvillePrivate not-for-profit2238
Lipscomb UniversityNashvillePrivate not-for-profit1958
Vanderbilt UniversityNashvillePrivate not-for-profit1854

What business teachers, postsecondary earn in Tennessee

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Tennessee
$85,950
Mean annual
$109,730
Jobs in state
1,260
What the range looks like
10th pct$53,780Median$85,95090th pct$169,710
Versus the national median
-13.3%

U.S. median $99,080. Tennessee pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.73×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Tennessee

Knoxville, TN
$103,010median
260 jobs
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
$96,180median
220 jobs
Chattanooga, TN-GA
$97,640median
100 jobs
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
$80,660median
360 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+5.7%
Faster than average
Openings per year
8,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
5,800
103,100 → 109,000
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Business Teachers, Postsecondary page.

How to become a Business Teacher, Postsecondary

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional degree

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Top skills

SpeakingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningLearning StrategiesWritingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Tennessee

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 25 majors mapped to Business Teachers, Postsecondary25 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 13.1303Business and Innovation/Entrepreneurship Teacher Education
  • 13.1310Sales and Marketing Operations/Marketing and Distribution Teacher Education
  • 30.1601Accounting and Computer Science
  • 30.2801Dispute Resolution
  • 30.7104Financial Analytics
  • 51.0702Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management
  • 52.0101Business/Commerce, General
  • 52.0201Business Administration and Management, General
  • 52.0202Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management
  • 52.0203Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management
  • 52.0205Operations Management and Supervision
  • 52.0206Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management
  • 52.0210Research and Development Management
  • 52.0211Project Management
  • 52.0212Retail Management
  • 52.0213Organizational Leadership
  • 52.0301Accounting
  • 52.0303Auditing
  • 52.0304Accounting and Finance
  • 52.0305Accounting and Business/Management
  • 52.0501Business/Corporate Communications, General
  • 52.0599Business/Corporate Communications, Other
  • 52.0701Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies
  • 52.0702Franchising and Franchise Operations
  • 52.0801Finance, General

Common questions

Answers for people weighing business teachers, postsecondary programs in Tennessee.

What degree do you need to become a Business Teacher, Postsecondary?+

Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Business Administration and Management, General, which awarded 4,552 degrees in Tennessee in 2024-25, 43.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Business Teacher, Postsecondary?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 27 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Marketing, Accounting and Related Services, Finance and Financial Management Services, plus 8 more. Together they graduate about 10,550 people a year in Tennessee.

How much do business teachers, postsecondary earn in Tennessee?+

The median is $85,950 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 13.3% below the U.S. median of $99,080. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for business teachers, postsecondary growing?+

BLS projects a +5.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 8,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Tennessee?+

56 institutions in Tennessee reported graduates from at least one of the 27 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do business teachers, postsecondary work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, Business Professor, Business Instructor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1011.

Business Teachers, Postsecondary in other statesCaliforniaTexasFloridaArizonaNew YorkPennsylvaniaIndianaNorth Carolina

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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