The University of Tennessee ranks in the top 30% of colleges and universities nationwide, according to a new study.
WalletHub compared 791 colleges and universities across the country with a focus that goes beyond classroom learning. It assessed cost, postgraduate opportunities, student experience and more.
Each school was graded on a point scale topping out at 100. Institutions were graded on seven categories: student selectivity, cost and financing, faculty resources, campus safety, campus experience, educational outcomes and career outcomes.
Here’s how the University of Tennessee stands in the ratings, as well as which Tennessee school claimed the top spot.
Is the University of Tennessee a prestigious school?
The University of Tennessee maintains its position as the No. 1 public university in Tennessee, according to WalletHub.
The university ranked No. 217 in the WalletHub study overall and came in at No. 5 in Tennessee. The schools that outrank UT in the Volunteer State are all private institutions.
The school scored 60.01 points out of the 100 possible across the seven categories.
The University of Tennessee’s top-scoring category was the “student selectivity” ranking based on data about acceptance rates, ACT/SAT scores and the number of first-year students who were at the top of the high school class. In this score its No. 140, according to the study.
The statistic shows that the University of Tennessee is a highly competitive institution academically, coming in the top 18% of schools nationwide, according to the study.
On the other hand, UT’s ranking dipped based on “faculty resources” and “campus experience” rankings, which were No. 633 and No. 634, respectively.
The faculty resources category includes student-faculty ratio, average class size, salary rates and more. University of Tennessee has an 18 to 1 ratio as of fall 2024, which is slightly higher than the national average for a public four-year university, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.
The campus experience is more than Vols football and basketball. This category assesses campus diversity, percentage of students living on campus, share of international students and more. UT’s fall 2025 student body is predominantly white, university data shows. Just 21% of all students identify as nonwhite, according to the university.
How much does it cost to go to the University of Tennessee?
WalletHub also compared the cost of enrollment at UT to other higher education institutions across the country. UT came in at No. 518, the study says.
In-state tuition runs around $13,800 per year, not including housing or books, according to the university.
Out-of-state students pay more than double. Tuition will cost non-Tennessee residents $33,256, according to UT.
Is the University of Tennessee hard to get into?
Acceptance to the University of Tennessee has grown more competitive over the past three years.
The acceptance rate for the fall 2022 semester was 68.4% based on 36,290 applications. As the number of applicants grew, the rate dropped to 46% for fall 2023 and reached 33.2% in fall 2024 when there were 59,151 applications.
UT received 60,515 applications for the fall 2025 semester, the university said in March, and admitted 23,187 students for a 38.3% acceptance rate.
What are the top colleges in Tennessee?
Vanderbilt maintains its position as the best university in Tennessee, according to WalletHub. Here’s how other Volunteer State schools stack up.
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The University of the South
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University of Tennessee-Knoxville
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Lincoln Memorial University
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Tennessee Wesleyan University
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Middle Tennessee State University
Students walk to class on the first day of the fall semester at the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville on Aug. 18.
What are the top colleges and universities in the United States?
These are the top higher education institutions in the country, according to WalletHub.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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California Institute of Technology
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Carnegie Mellon University
Allison Kiehl covers trending and breaking news from Knoxville for the Tennessee Connect Team. Email: allison.kiehl@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Is the University of Tennessee a good school? See rank in new study
