Community Colleges in Tennessee

Tennessee community colleges by the numbers

Community colleges

13

Share of state colleges

16.5%

Median published in-state tuition

$4,540

National public 2-year median

$4,288

Lowest published tuition

Nashville State Community College ($4,730)

Counts and shares come from CampusPin's committed institution-distribution snapshot; the tuition median is the published in-state figure from the tuition-by-state snapshot. Those cover every community college in the state. Here a community college means a public two-year college; private two-year and career schools are not counted. The list below covers all 13 of them. Published prices are before financial aid, net price is typically lower, and lower tuition is not a measure of quality.

What work without a bachelor's degree pays in Tennessee

73% of jobs in Tennessee are in occupations the federal government reports as typically entered with an associate degree, a certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential. 31% of that employment pays more than $47,380, the median wage across all occupations there.

Jobs not typically needing a bachelor's

73%

Of those, paying above the local median

31%

Tennessee median wage, all occupations

$47,380

Best-paid such occupation in Tennessee

Air traffic controllers ($157,330) — typically entered with an associate's degree

These figures describe occupations, not graduates. They do not measure what community-college students in Tennessee earn, and they are not evidence that any credential caused the pay. Typical entry education is a national assignment describing what people entering an occupation usually hold, not a requirement and not a guarantee that a particular employer accepts it. A median describes everyone working in an occupation, experienced and new alike, so it is not a starting salary, and wages are not adjusted for cost of living.

How Tennessee compares with the other 50 jurisdictions