Best Teacher programs in Tennessee, ranked by enrollment
All teachers and instructors not listed.
7 schools in Tennessee run programs that feed this job, graduating 271 people a year. The job pays a median of $50,000 in Tennessee across about 660 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 13.1399In Tennessee → | 246 | 90.8% | 3 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 2 | CIP 13.9999In Tennessee → | 16 | 5.9% | 4 | $34,646 | $25,855 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1211In Tennessee → | 9 | 3.3% | 1 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
Top 7 schools in Tennessee
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 7 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 · 1 feeder programs | 221 | Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas, Other | — | 74% | — | 42% |
| 2 | Cumberland University Lebanon, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas, Other | — | 46% | $19,206 | 67% |
| 3 | Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN Public · 2 feeder programs | 15 | Online Educator/Online Teaching | $42,657 | 54% | — | 69% |
| 4 | Belmont University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Education, Other | — | 71% | $29,246 | 95% |
| 5 | Austin Peay State University Clarksville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Education, Other | — | 40% | — | 96% |
| 6 | Southern Adventist University Collegedale, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Education, Other | — | 49% | $24,187 | 65% |
| 7 | University of Memphis Memphis, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas, Other | $37,999 | 51% | — | 72% |
All 7 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 | 221 | 1 |
| Cumberland University | Lebanon | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| Middle Tennessee State University | Murfreesboro | Public | 15 | 2 |
| Belmont University | Nashville | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Austin Peay State University | Clarksville | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Southern Adventist University | Collegedale | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| University of Memphis | Memphis | Public | 1 | 1 |
What teachers and instructors, all other earn in Tennessee
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $66,140. 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 Teachers and Instructors, All Other page.
How to become a Teacher
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 9 majors mapped to Teachers and Instructors, All Other8 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.0201Bilingual and Multilingual Education
- 13.0202Multicultural Education
- 13.0203Indian/Native American Education
- 13.1207Montessori Teacher Education
- 13.1208Waldorf/Steiner Teacher Education(no graduates reported)
- 13.1211Online Educator/Online Teaching
- 13.1304Driver and Safety Teacher Education
- 13.1399Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas, Other
- 13.9999Education, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing teachers and instructors, all other programs in Tennessee.
What degree do you need to become a Teacher?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas, Other, which awarded 246 degrees in Tennessee in 2024-25, 90.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Teacher?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Teacher Education and Professional Development, Education, Teacher Education and Professional Development. Together they graduate about 271 people a year in Tennessee.
How much do teachers and instructors, all other earn in Tennessee?+
The median is $50,000 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 24.4% below the U.S. median of $66,140. 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 teachers and instructors, all other growing?+
BLS projects a -0.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 18,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Tennessee?+
7 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'None' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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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