Top Ranked Programs
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville's program mix is anchored in Business, which accounts for 24% of degree output, followed by Engineering at 11% and Social Sciences at 7%. The combination of a large business core with meaningful engineering and health-sciences presence gives the university a applied-professional signature common among flagship land-grant institutions. Business Administration is the largest program with 470 graduates, and Azimuth ranks it #65 nationally for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions, with graduates earning $82,074. That scale-plus-earnings combination makes it the institution's Business Administration — the single program contributing the most aggregate economic value to the graduating class. Across 72 programs serving roughly 5,530 students annually, 58 meet Azimuth's [ranking threshold](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/). The strongest four-year earnings come from Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, where 189 graduates earn $92,042 and Azimuth ranks the program #24 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions. Mechanical Engineering follows with 186 graduates earning $90,623, ranked #123 nationally, and the The Finance program graduates 198 students at $83,793, ranked #98 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions. Among the largest enrollment programs, Kinesiology program graduates 358 students with median earnings of $57,020, and Azimuth ranks it #57 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions, while The Biology, General program graduates 259 students earning $58,149, ranked #115 nationally. Engineering and nursing programs are high-mobility pathways where graduates enter the national labor market directly and four-year earnings reflect actual workforce outcomes. Business fields — particularly accounting and finance — follow a similar direct-to-workforce pattern, with strong employer recruitment in the Southeast reinforcing early-career pay. Programs like Nursing, with 257 graduates earning $77,118, represent fields where some graduates continue to graduate or professional study, meaning four-year earnings may undercount lifetime trajectory. The [supply-demand map](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/) provides additional context for how these program families align with national labor-market demand.