Best Public Relations Specialist programs in Tennessee, ranked by enrollment
Promote or create an intended public image for individuals, groups, or organizations. May write or select material for release to various communications media.
20 schools in Tennessee run programs that feed this job, graduating 590 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,900 in Tennessee across about 3,380 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
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.
8 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.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speech Communication and Rhetoricmain feeder CIP 09.0101In Tennessee → | 248 | 42.0% | 11 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Communication, Generalmain feeder CIP 09.0100In Tennessee → | 165 | 28.0% | 4 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 3 | Public Relations/Image Managementmain feeder CIP 09.0902In Tennessee → | 137 | 23.2% | 6 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 4 | CIP 09.0900In Tennessee → | 24 | 4.1% | 2 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 5 | Sports Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0906In Tennessee → | 7 | 1.2% | 2 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 6 | Business/Corporate Communications, Generalmain feeder CIP 52.0501In Tennessee → | 6 | 1.0% | 1 | $41,000 | $26,000 |
| 7 | Health Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0905In Tennessee → | 2 | 0.3% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 8 | CIP 09.0907In Tennessee → | 1 | 0.2% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
Top 20 schools in Tennessee
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 20 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Knoxville, TN Public · 2 feeder programs | 209 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $41,258 | 74% | — | 42% |
| 2 | The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 117 | Communication, General | $33,082 | 50% | — | 81% |
| 3 | Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $29,877 | 54% | — | 69% |
| 4 | Tennessee State University Nashville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Communication, General | $25,140 | 34% | — | 70% |
| 5 | University of Memphis Memphis, TN Public · 3 feeder programs | 31 | Public Relations/Image Management | $39,819 | 51% | — | 72% |
| 6 | Belmont University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $41,889 | 71% | $29,246 | 95% |
| 7 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 94% | $14,854 | 6% |
| 8 | Lipscomb University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 18 | Public Relations/Image Management | — | 72% | $24,309 | 68% |
| 9 | Lee University Cleveland, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $27,365 | 63% | $18,918 | 71% |
| 10 | Freed - Hardeman University Henderson, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Public Relations/Image Management | — | 71% | $19,418 | 60% |
| 11 | Bryan College - Dayton Dayton, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 50% | $16,130 | — |
| 12 | Southern Adventist University Collegedale, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 10 | Public Relations/Image Management | — | 49% | $24,187 | 65% |
| 13 | Christian Brothers University Memphis, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Business/Corporate Communications, General | — | 55% | $11,063 | 87% |
| 14 | Union University Jackson, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 66% | $25,882 | 60% |
| 15 | Carson - Newman University Jefferson City, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $28,221 | 53% | $19,537 | 90% |
| 16 | Trevecca Nazarene University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $27,053 | 53% | $14,286 | 69% |
| 17 | Tusculum University Greeneville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Communication, General | — | 25% | $22,577 | 72% |
| 18 | Tennessee Wesleyan University Athens, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Sports Communication | — | 48% | $14,614 | 69% |
| 19 | Maryville College Maryville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | International and Intercultural Communication | — | 50% | $20,489 | 61% |
| 20 | The University of Tennessee - Martin Martin, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Communication, General | $26,803 | 53% | — | 88% |
All 20 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Knoxville | Public | 209 | 2 |
| The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga | Chattanooga | Public | 117 | 1 |
| Middle Tennessee State University | Murfreesboro | Public | 47 | 1 |
| Tennessee State University | Nashville | Public | 44 | 1 |
| University of Memphis | Memphis | Public | 31 | 3 |
| Belmont University | Nashville | Private not-for-profit | 23 | 2 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville | Private not-for-profit | 19 | 1 |
| Lipscomb University | Nashville | Private not-for-profit | 18 | 2 |
| Lee University | Cleveland | Private not-for-profit | 16 | 2 |
| Freed - Hardeman University | Henderson | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 2 |
| Bryan College - Dayton | Dayton | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 1 |
| Southern Adventist University | Collegedale | Private not-for-profit | 10 | 2 |
| Christian Brothers University | Memphis | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Union University | Jackson | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Carson - Newman University | Jefferson City | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
What public relations specialists earn in Tennessee
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $74,750. Tennessee pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Tennessee
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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 Public Relations Specialists page.
How to become a Public Relations Specialist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
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 11 majors mapped to Public Relations Specialists11 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0100Communication, General
- 09.0101Speech Communication and Rhetoric
- 09.0900Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
- 09.0902Public Relations/Image Management
- 09.0904Political Communication
- 09.0905Health Communication
- 09.0906Sports Communication
- 09.0907International and Intercultural Communication
- 19.0202Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Communication
- 52.0501Business/Corporate Communications, General
- 52.0599Business/Corporate Communications, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing public relations specialists programs in Tennessee.
What degree do you need to become a Public Relations Specialist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Speech Communication and Rhetoric, which awarded 248 degrees in Tennessee in 2024-25, 42.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Public Relations Specialist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Public Relations, Business/Corporate Communications. Together they graduate about 590 people a year in Tennessee.
How much do public relations specialists earn in Tennessee?+
The median is $60,900 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.5% below the U.S. median of $74,750. 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 public relations specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +4.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 27,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Tennessee?+
20 institutions in Tennessee reported graduates from at least one of the 8 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 public relations specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Communications Specialist, Public Affairs Specialist, Public Information Officer, Public Relations Specialist (PR Specialist) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-3031.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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