College profile
University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
Listed in federal data as “The University of Tennessee-Knoxville”.
TN · Public · Mid-size city · 50,488 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Industrial Engineering grads from here earn about $107,093 four years out; fine and studio arts grads about $34,609 — a 3.1× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- Grades and scores convert directly to dollars here. This college publishes an automatic merit grid — hit the GPA/score tiers and the discount is guaranteed, no negotiation. Check the scholarship table below before assuming the sticker.
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 4× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$33,678/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$60,249/yr) still runs about 4× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Parent/student verdict
Moderately selectiveSolid match for academically prepared students. Affordable — net price averages ~$18,976/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.
Best for
- Solid academic profiles — the admitted-student bands above are within reach for strong students
- Strong test/GPA students chasing merit aid — Volunteer Scholarship (non-resident) or Volunteer Scholarship (in-state) on offer (see merit-scholarship tab below)
- In-state residents (tuition ~$13,812 — major value play)
- Students focused on Business, Management, & Marketing (the school's signature program)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1190, or ACT below 25, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
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Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
High-school GPA
4.25 avg weighted GPA, enrolled first-years
| Enrolled first-years | 4.25 weighted |
weighted (school-reported, can exceed 4.0). UT Knoxville Common Data Set 2025-26, Section C12 ↗
As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2025-26) — independently verified 2026-07-23 (source linked above). GPA basis (weighted vs. unweighted vs. 4.0-scale) varies by college and is labeled above.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What University of Tennessee (Knoxville) actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by University of Tennessee (Knoxville)'s own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
University of Tennessee (Knoxville)'s own published aid policy · as published when we checked, August 2026
Who qualifies: TN residents who qualify for the HOPE Scholarship.
UT Promise is a last-dollar scholarship that assists with covering tuition and mandatory fees for eligible Tennessee residents attending UT campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Pulaski, Martin and Memphis. ... To be eligible, students must qualify for the HOPE Scholarship, have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less and total assets under $75,000. UT Promise also guarantees a minimum $500 award per semester for all qualifying students.
Income thresholds assume typical assets. Policy independently verified against the college's financial-aid pages ↗.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$468K ahead at full price +$527K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of Tennessee (Knoxville) actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — University of Tennessee (Knoxville)'s own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Industrial Engineering. | $107,093 |
| Computer Science. | $106,312 |
| Computer Engineering. | $105,834 |
| Nuclear Engineering. | $99,139 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | $93,642 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. | $92,042 |
| Chemical Engineering. | $91,643 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | $90,623 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | $89,445 |
| Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering. | $89,015 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Merit aidScholarship money awarded for grades or test scores, not financial need — at many colleges it's automatic at certain GPA/score levels.
What your test score unlocks at University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
Score-or-merit-based scholarships published by the institution. Stackable in most cases — confirm with the financial aid office.
| Award | Annual award | Score gate |
|---|---|---|
|
Volunteer Scholarship (non-resident)
Non-resident · out_of_state
|
$18,000/yr Fall 2027 published rate · source ↗ |
1300+ SAT |
|
Volunteer Scholarship (in-state)
In-state · in_state
|
$9,000/yr Fall 2027 published rate · source ↗ |
1300+ SAT |
See all merit scholarships across colleges + 13 national awards on /merit-scholarships →
AI program signal
AI + computing education at University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
Alternatives to University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
Or compare any college side-by-side
Deciding on University of Tennessee (Knoxville)?
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Get your child's odds at University of Tennessee (Knoxville) →Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to University of Tennessee (Knoxville)?
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
46 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name University of Tennessee (Knoxville) on it. Between them they printed 213 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at University of Tennessee (Knoxville), from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
and 35 more
Published, but not ranked — these schools name University of Tennessee (Knoxville) on a list of where their graduates enrolled whose class years we cannot read ("Since 2023", or no class year printed), so their totals are shown rather than divided: The Lovett School (3, List as of 5/1/2026 (no class year printed on the list itself; page 2 header reads "College Acceptance and Matriculation" and links this file as the "Class of 2026 matriculation list")).
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
9 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name University of Tennessee (Knoxville) on it. Between them they printed 47 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to University of Tennessee (Knoxville), from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
All 55 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
For Parents
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantUniversity of Tennessee (Knoxville) is a public four-year college in TN. It admitted 46% of applicants (50,488 applied, 2023). Test policy: Required.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1190–1340, ACT 25–31. Average enrolled GPA 4.25 (weighted, 2025-26, as published by the college).
Cost: about $18,976 a year on average with aid, $33,678 a year at full price for in-state students.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $60,249 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $526,586 ahead with aid, $467,778 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Industrial Engineering ($107,093); Computer Science ($106,312); Computer Engineering ($105,834).
Aid pledge published by the college: families earning under $75,000 pay no tuition (TN residents who qualify for the HOPE Scholarship).
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name University of Tennessee (Knoxville): 46, 213 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Montgomery Bell Academy (17.6 per class year, 88 over 5 class years, 2022 – 2026); Collegiate School (3.0 per class year, 3 over 1 class year, Class of 2026 College Enrollments / 2023-26 4-Year College Enrollments, counted column "Class of 2026 College Enrollments"); Santa Margarita Catholic High School (3.0 per class year, 3 over 1 class year, Class of 2025). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/the-university-of-tennessee-knoxville.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming University of Tennessee (Knoxville): 9, 47 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often St Andrews School Of Boca Raton Inc (11.0 per class year, 11 over 1 class year, Class of 2026); Oratory Preparatory School (8.0 per class year, 8 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); Canterbury School-Fort Myers (7.0 per class year, 7 over 1 class year, Class of 2026). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/the-university-of-tennessee-knoxville.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/the-university-of-tennessee-knoxville.json