Affordable Private Colleges in Tennessee
Private nonprofit four-year colleges, ranked by net price after aid. Their sticker prices are the highest and their discounts are the deepest, so the published tuition tells you very little.
29 private colleges in Tennessee are listed here, 29 of them reporting a net price. They run from $7,099 a year at Le Moyne-Owen College to $33,147 at Belmont University, with a middle of about $20,614.
The cheapest are Le Moyne-Owen College, Christian Brothers University and Lane College. A low average is not a low bill for everyone — aid depends on your family's income — but it is where to start.
Private colleges in Tennessee, cheapest first · 29
Average net price per year after grants and scholarships, with the share of students on federal Pell grants where reported. Schools publishing no net price are listed last.
- Le Moyne-Owen College
- Christian Brothers University
- Lane College
- Baptist Health Sciences University
- Bethel University
- Tennessee Wesleyan University
- Vanderbilt University
- Trevecca Nazarene University
- Cumberland University
- Lee University
- Maryville College
- Carson-Newman University
- Lincoln Memorial University
- Herzing University-Nashville
- Bryan College-Dayton
- Tusculum University
- Milligan University
- Freed-Hardeman University
- Johnson University
- King University
- Southern Adventist University
- Lipscomb University
- Welch College
- Remington College-Memphis Campus
- Union University
- The University of the South
- Rhodes College
- Fisk University
- Belmont University
Questions families ask
- What is the most affordable private college in Tennessee?
- By average net price — what students actually pay per year after grants and scholarships — it is Le Moyne-Owen College at about $7,099 a year. That is an average across all students there; your own cost depends on your family's income, so check the school's net price calculator.
- What is the difference between sticker price and net price?
- Sticker price is the published tuition before any aid. Net price is what students actually pay after grants and scholarships are subtracted — not loans, which you pay back. Net price is usually far lower, and at expensive private colleges the gap can be tens of thousands a year, which is why every figure on this page is net price rather than tuition.
- How much do private colleges in Tennessee cost on average?
- Across the 29 private colleges in Tennessee that report a figure, the middle of the range is about $20,614 a year after aid, running from $7,099 to $33,147.
- What does the Pell grant percentage mean?
- It is the share of undergraduates at that school receiving a federal Pell grant — need-based aid that does not have to be repaid. A higher share usually means the school enrols more students from lower-income families. Across the private colleges listed here it runs from 16% to 79%, with a middle of about 32%. It is the only aid figure the Department of Education publishes per school, so it is the only one shown.
Which of these actually fits you?
A list is a starting point, not an answer. Two minutes of questions gives you a shortlist ranked on cost, academics, size and location — with the reaches labelled honestly.
Find your match — free