Tennessee State University Outcomes: $54K Earnings (2026)

How much do Tennessee State University graduates earn?

The reported median is $53,808 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $57,301 as its benchmark; the difference is -$3,493 per year.

Access is the stronger at Tennessee State University, while the return picture is uneven. Azimuth places its return pillar in the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $133 less than expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Earnings beyond expectations, the model gap for similar students, is in the 54th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $3,161. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $3,294.

Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn median earnings of $53,808 four years after completion, in the 29th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, and the university is $3,493 below it. The measures diverge.

The earnings scenarios span from $44,165 on the downside to $73,525 on the upside. They are based on program mix rather than observed groups of graduates.

Individual fields show where some of that variation appears: Accounting has median earnings of $69,414 four years after completion, Computer Science reaches $67,292, and Allied Health Professions reaches $63,629. These field figures sit within the modeled range rather than assigning graduates to observed earnings groups.

An estimated 28.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Four-year earnings cover completers who are working and not enrolled, so this estimate helps frame who is outside that earnings measure.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $53,808
Rank for difference from expectations: 54th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

Tennessee State University reported median: $53,808
Peer schools comparable schools · $3,493 above Tennessee State University: $57,301
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $133 above Tennessee State University: $53,941

School and program earnings use pooled 2017–18 and 2018–19 completion cohorts, measured in 2022 and 2023 and expressed in 2024 dollars. How the model works.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $44,165
Median · reported: $53,808
Higher estimate: $73,525

Downside shows a lower-earning scenario based on the college’s mix of programs; upside shows a higher-earning scenario. Typical is the school’s reported median four years after completion. These are planning scenarios, not a forecast of your salary or percentiles of individual graduates.

Why the downside matters explores the risk hidden by medians, using older ten-year entrant data. Read about the move to four-year earnings.

Do Tennessee State University graduates earn more than expected?

Azimuth models what we would expect graduates to earn based on who the college enrolls, how selective it is and its local economy. The difference between that expectation and reported earnings is what Azimuth calls value added.

Tennessee State University graduates’ reported earnings are $133 below that expectation, the 54th percentile for this measure. Unlike a peer comparison, it adjusts for who enrolls.

The breakdown separates the contribution attributed to observed factors from the remaining difference. Neither component establishes how much attending Tennessee State University caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at Tennessee State University report the highest earnings?

Four-year earnings differ across Tennessee State University programs, separating a pair of higher-earning fields from larger options with more moderate figures. Accounting reports median earnings of $69,414 four years after completion, alongside 14 degrees awarded.

Computer Science follows with median earnings of $67,292 and 27 degrees awarded. Among the larger programs, Psychology had median earnings of $46,721 four years after completion and 65 degrees awarded.

Criminal Justice recorded $46,062 with 44 degrees awarded. The higher figures in the first pair and the more moderate figures in the latter pair show how earnings vary by field at the university.

Health Professions is the largest program family, representing 16.6% of bachelor’s degrees awarded at Tennessee State University. Published field earnings offer a view four years after completion that is separate from the schoolwide median.

Among the higher-earning fields, Accounting awarded 14 degrees and had median earnings of $69,414 four years after completion. Computer Science awarded 27 degrees and had median earnings of $67,292, while Allied Health Professions awarded 24 degrees and had median earnings of $63,629.

The variation gives applicants reason to review field-level outcomes alongside award volume.

Further analysis

Program mix makes the modeled earnings range broad. The downside earnings scenario is $44,165, the typical scenario is $53,808, and the upside scenario is $73,525.

Accounting reaches $69,414 four years after completion, while Criminal Justice, the lowest-earning of the largest programs, reaches $46,062. The spread shows variation by field rather than observed groups.

Four years after completing a degree, Tennessee State University graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $53,808. That figure is $3,493 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), and Azimuth places it in the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The earnings cohort is 1,350 federally aided completers. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix show a typical figure of $53,808, with a downside scenario of $44,165 and an upside scenario of $73,525.

An estimated 28.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix. Graduates earn about $133 less than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

Earnings beyond expectations measure the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students. That result lands at the 54th percentile.

Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: methodology.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.