The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Earnings: $68K (2026)

How much do The University of Tennessee-Knoxville graduates earn?

The reported median is $67,631 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $65,610 as its benchmark; the difference is $2,021 per year.

Return is the weakest , sitting at the 60th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $7,740 less than expects for similar students.

That gap is at the 26th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $11,225.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $18,965. Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $67,631, in the 72nd percentile.

That is $2,021 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Earnings four years after completion vary widely by field at The University of Tennessee-Knoxville. The earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, range from a downside of $50,756 to an upside of $89,938, with the typical scenario at $67,631.

That spread is shaped by the outcomes across the 59 programs with published earnings data. The highest-earning fields sit well above the typical scenario.

Industrial Engineering completers earn a median of $107,093, Computer Science graduates reach $106,312, and Computer Engineering completers earn $105,834.

An estimated 29.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the university's program mix rather than observed enrollment. Because four-year earnings figures capture only those working and not enrolled, the median earnings understate the eventual earnings of the sizable share of completers who pursue advanced degrees.

Median earnings · four years after completion: $67,631
Rank for difference from expectations: 26th percentile

Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville reported median: $67,631
Peer schools comparable schools · $2,021 below The University of Tennessee-Knoxville: $65,610
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $7,740 above The University of Tennessee-Knoxville: $75,371

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 many The University of Tennessee-Knoxville first-year students return?

First-time, full-time bachelor’s cohorts · CDS 2025-26

Returned the following fall: 92.4%

Source: The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Common Data Set 2025-26, B22 retention.

How could earnings differ from the median?

Earnings four years after completion

Planning rangeReported median

Lower estimate: $50,756
Median · reported: $67,631
Higher estimate: $89,938

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 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville 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.

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville graduates’ reported earnings are $7,740 below that expectation, the 26th 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 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

Which fields at The University of Tennessee-Knoxville report the highest earnings?

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville awards bachelor's degrees across 59 fields with published four-year earnings, and Azimuth ranks 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.

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville publishes earnings data for 59 bachelor's programs, 49 of which hold an Azimuth national rank. The largest family, Business, accounts for 24.3% of degrees awarded, followed by Engineering at 11.0% and Social Sciences at 7.0%.

Several programs combine strong national standing with high earnings. Soil Sciences ranks #1 nationally and #1 in Tennessee, with 24 degrees awarded and a median of $88,563 four years after completion.

Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management ranks #4 nationally, awarded 56 degrees, and shows a median of $48,882. The largest program, Business Administration and Management, awarded 470 degrees, ranks #45 nationally, and its completers earn a median of $82,074.

Industrial Engineering is the highest-earning program at $107,093, though it awarded a smaller 43 degrees.

Further analysis

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $50,756, a typical outcome of $67,631, and an upside of $89,938, a range that reflects wide variation by field. Anchoring the range in named programs, Industrial Engineering reaches $107,093 four years after completion, while Kinesiology and Physical Education, one of the largest programs with published earnings, sits at $57,020.

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville records a median of $67,631 four years after completion for federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled. That figure reflects a cohort of 5,366 completers and sits at the 72nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $7,740 less than the model expects for similar students. That places the earnings-beyond-expectations result at the 26th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix show a typical outcome of $67,631, a downside of $50,756 and an upside of $89,938. An estimated 29.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The median sits in the upper third among nonprofit four-year institutions, yet graduates fall short of what the model expects, so the earnings picture is mixed.

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.