Best Surgical Technologist programs in Tennessee, ranked by enrollment
Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel.
19 schools in Tennessee run programs that feed this job, graduating 924 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,530 in Tennessee across about 3,310 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.
3 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 | CIP 51.0909In Tennessee → | 858 | 92.9% | 17 | $53,520 | $20,250 |
| 2 | CIP 51.1012In Tennessee → | 59 | 6.4% | 4 | $49,401 | $19,848 |
| 3 | CIP 51.0811In Tennessee → | 7 | 0.8% | 1 | $29,507 | $11,000 |
Top 19 schools in Tennessee
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 15 of the 19 schools in this state.
All 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian Institute of Surgical Assisting | Nashville | Private for-profit | 505 | 1 |
| South College | Knoxville | Private for-profit | 86 | 1 |
| Concorde Career College - Memphis | Memphis | Private for-profit | 74 | 2 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Murfreesboro | Murfreesboro | Public | 46 | 2 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Knoxville | Knoxville | Public | 42 | 1 |
| Nashville State Community College | Nashville | Public | 32 | 2 |
| Fortis Institute - Nashville | Nashville | Private for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| Miller - Motte College - Chattanooga | Chattanooga | Private for-profit | 18 | 1 |
| Northeast State Community College | Blountville | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Walters State Community College | Morristown | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Baptist Health Sciences University | Memphis | Private not-for-profit | 11 | 1 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Jackson | Jackson | Public | 10 | 1 |
| Fortis Institute - Cookeville | Cookeville | Private for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| Chattanooga State Community College | Chattanooga | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Roane State Community College | Harriman | Public | 8 | 1 |
What surgical technologists earn in Tennessee
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $64,650. Tennessee pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Tennessee employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
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 Surgical Technologists page.
How to become a Surgical Technologist
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
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 3 majors mapped to Surgical Technologists3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0811Pathology/Pathologist Assistant
- 51.0909Surgical Technology/Technologist
- 51.1012Sterile Processing Technology/Technician
Common questions
Answers for people weighing surgical technologists programs in Tennessee.
What degree do you need to become a Surgical Technologist?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Surgical Technology/Technologist, which awarded 858 degrees in Tennessee in 2024-25, 92.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Surgical Technologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health Diagnostic, Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions, Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. Together they graduate about 924 people a year in Tennessee.
How much do surgical technologists earn in Tennessee?+
The median is $60,530 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.4% below the U.S. median of $64,650. 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 surgical technologists growing?+
BLS projects a +4.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 7,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Tennessee?+
19 institutions in Tennessee reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 surgical technologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Surgical Technician, Operating Room Technician (OR Tech), Certified Surgical Technologist (CST), Surgical Technologist (Surgical Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2055.
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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