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Programs & majors brief

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# The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Majors & Programs

Updated September 30, 2026

[Overview](/school/the-university-of-tennessee-knoxville/)[Cost & aid](/school/the-university-of-tennessee-knoxville/cost/)[Outcomes](/school/the-university-of-tennessee-knoxville/outcomes/)[Admissions](/school/the-university-of-tennessee-knoxville/admissions/)Majors[Similar schools](/school/the-university-of-tennessee-knoxville/similar/)

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## Which majors earn the most at The University of Tennessee-Knoxville?

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville awards bachelor's degrees across 59 fields with published four-year earnings, and [Azimuth ranks](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/) 49 of them nationally. The highest-earning programs cluster in engineering: Industrial Engineering leads at $107,093 four years after completion, with 43 degrees awarded, followed by Computer Science at $106,312 and 79 degrees awarded.

Business Administration and Management, the biggest with 470 degrees awarded, shows a median of $82,074 and an Azimuth national rank of #45. Nursing reaches $77,118 with 257 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #221.

Kinesiology and Physical Education sits at $57,020 on 358 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #59, showing earnings vary by field even within a single university.

### Major mix · each dot ≈ 1% of completions

Share of reported completions in the bachelor’s programs included here. Each dot represents approximately 1% of those completions. Counts are credentials, not unique students; excluded programs are not zero activity.

-   Business**1,343 · 24.3%**
-   Engineering**610 · 11.0%**
-   Social sciences**385 · 7.0%**
-   Psychology**378 · 6.8%**
-   Biological sciences**375 · 6.8%**
-   Other**2,439 · 44.1%**

Find a field

Sort programsLargest programsHighest four-year earningsBest national field rankProgram name

72 of 72 programs shown

Four-year earnings · first six matching programs

**Industrial Engineering 43 degrees awarded**
$107,093

**Computer Science 79 degrees awarded**
$106,312

**Computer Engineering 19 degrees awarded**
$105,834

**Nuclear Engineering 42 degrees awarded**
$99,139

**Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering 44 degrees awarded**
$93,642

**Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods 189 degrees awarded**
$92,042

Each bar is a field’s median. Program size counts degrees awarded, not unique people or the earnings sample.

Compare all matching programs

Reported bachelor’s programs · earnings, program size and field ranks

| Program | Degrees awarded | 4-yr earnings | Field rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Industrial Engineering | 43 | $107,093 | #15 |
| Computer Science | 79 | $106,312 | #100 |
| Computer Engineering small degree count | 19 | $105,834 | — |
| Nuclear Engineering | 42 | $99,139 | #4 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | 44 | $93,642 | #162 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | 189 | $92,042 | #31 |
| Chemical Engineering | 64 | $91,643 | #100 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 186 | $90,623 | #123 |
| Accounting and Related Services | 98 | $89,445 | #66 |
| Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering | 54 | $89,015 | #49 |
| Soil Sciences | 24 | $88,563 | #1 |
| Agricultural Engineering small degree count | 9 | $85,141 | — |
| Finance and Financial Management Services | 198 | $83,793 | #74 |
| Statistics | 29 | $83,697 | — |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | 470 | $82,074 | #45 |
| Civil Engineering | 67 | $80,958 | #134 |
| Business/Managerial Economics | 30 | $80,415 | #28 |
| Chemistry | 39 | $79,736 | #14 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing | 257 | $77,118 | #221 |
| Marketing | 240 | $70,661 | #70 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering | 62 | $69,476 | #96 |
| Design and Applied Arts small degree count | 16 | $69,047 | — |
| Architecture | 72 | $68,765 | #19 |
| Food Science and Technology | 28 | $68,114 | #20 |
| Economics | 42 | $67,902 | #169 |
| Interior Architecture | 32 | $65,144 | #4 |
| Family and Consumer Economics and Related Studies | 30 | $63,996 | #5 |
| Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | 122 | $63,314 | #38 |
| Human Resources Management and Services | 40 | $63,005 | #51 |
| Plant Sciences | 38 | $61,587 | #12 |
| Political Science and Government | 161 | $60,073 | #143 |
| Agricultural Business and Management small degree count | 16 | $59,769 | — |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services | 74 | $59,347 | #55 |
| Philosophy small degree count | 18 | $59,329 | — |
| Nutrition Sciences small degree count | 19 | $58,972 | — |
| Hospitality Administration/Management | 34 | $58,854 | #42 |
| Biology, General | 259 | $58,149 | #160 |
| Forestry | 25 | $57,436 | #16 |
| Communication and Media Studies | 132 | $57,394 | #104 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness | 358 | $57,020 | #59 |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other | 99 | $56,155 | #49 |
| Geography and Cartography | 21 | $54,656 | #68 |
| Sociology | 101 | $53,635 | #98 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | 59 | $52,703 | #28 |
| Journalism | 82 | $52,663 | #60 |
| History | 67 | $52,505 | #100 |
| Agricultural Public Services small degree count | 11 | $52,060 | — |
| Mathematics | 54 | $50,605 | #207 |
| Special Education and Teaching small degree count | 19 | $50,585 | — |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences | 28 | $50,202 | #86 |
| Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services | 85 | $49,785 | #47 |
| Animal Sciences | 101 | $49,656 | #32 |
| Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management | 56 | $48,882 | #4 |
| Social Work | 72 | $48,510 | #148 |
| Music | 40 | $46,701 | #62 |
| English Language and Literature, General | 116 | $46,366 | #164 |
| Anthropology | 60 | $41,767 | #100 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft small degree count | 16 | $41,414 | — |
| Fine and Studio Arts | 34 | $34,609 | #214 |
| Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy small degree count | 5 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Information Science/Studies small degree count | 11 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Materials Engineering | 20 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics small degree count | 12 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences | 116 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Sustainability Studies small degree count | 15 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| International/Globalization Studies small degree count | 6 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Religion/Religious Studies small degree count | 8 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Physics | 20 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Research and Experimental Psychology | 378 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Public Administration small degree count | 10 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Film/Video and Photographic Arts small degree count | 5 | Too few graduates to report | — |
| Construction Management | 44 | Too few graduates to report | — |

[Program data and definitions](#page-sources) · [How to evaluate program rankings](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/)

## What are the largest programs at The University of Tennessee-Knoxville?

Ten largest programs by degrees awarded

**Business Administration, Management and Operations**
470

**Research and Experimental Psychology**
378

**Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness**
358

**Biology, General**
259

**Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing**
257

**Marketing**
240

**Finance and Financial Management Services**
198

**Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods**
189

**Mechanical Engineering**
186

**Political Science and Government**
161

Counts describe degrees awarded in the reporting period, not current enrollment. [Program data and definitions](#page-sources)

## How do The University of Tennessee-Knoxville majors rank nationally?

### National program rankings

1.  Soil Sciences**#1**
2.  Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management**#4**
3.  Interior Architecture**#4**
4.  Nuclear Engineering**#4**
5.  Family and Consumer Economics and Related Studies**#5**
6.  Plant Sciences**#12**
7.  Chemistry**#14**
8.  Industrial Engineering**#15**
9.  Forestry**#16**
10.  Architecture**#19**
11.  Food Science and Technology**#20**
12.  Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services**#28**
13.  Business/Managerial Economics**#28**
14.  Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods**#31**
15.  Animal Sciences**#32**
16.  Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication**#38**
17.  Hospitality Administration/Management**#42**
18.  Business Administration, Management and Operations**#45**
19.  Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services**#47**
20.  Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering**#49**
21.  Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other**#49**

Programs ranked in the national top 50, supplemented by the largest ranked programs when needed to show ten. Fewer appear when fewer ranks are reported. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

[How Azimuth compares programs across colleges](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/)

## Further analysis

The value of a degree from The University of Tennessee-Knoxville depends heavily on the field a student chooses. Of the 59 programs with published earnings data, 49 carry an Azimuth national rank.

Award counts here are degrees conferred in one academic year. The degree mix centers on Business, at 24.3% of bachelor's degrees awarded, with Engineering second at 11.0% and Social Sciences third at 7.0%.

The largest single program, Business Administration and Management, awards 470 degrees a year and earns a national rank of #45 with median earnings of $82,074 four years after completion. The best-ranked program nationally is Soil Sciences, at #1 in its field, with median earnings of $88,563 four years after completion and 24 degrees awarded.

Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management follows at #4 nationally, with 56 degrees awarded and median earnings of $48,882. Across all fields, 19.6% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

## Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: [methodology](/methodology/).

Analysis and methodology by [Daniel Rogers](/about/#founder), 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](/about/).