2025 Best Respiratory Care Therapy Associate Degree Schools in Tennessee

Respiratory Care Therapy is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #31 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 6 schools in Tennessee to determine which ones were the best for respiratory care therapy students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 100 associate degrees in respiratory care therapy during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Respiratory Care Therapy School for Your Associate Degree

The respiratory care therapy/therapist associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on respiratory care therapy students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other respiratory care therapy students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized respiratory care therapy related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for respiratory care therapy students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Respiratory Care Therapy Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Respiratory Care Therapy Associate Degree Schools in Tennessee list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Respiratory Care Therapy in Tennessee

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in respiratory care therapy.

Top Tennessee Schools for an Associate in Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist

1

Chattanooga State Community College
Chattanooga, TN

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Chattanooga State Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in respiratory care therapy. Chattanooga State Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the city of Chattanooga.More information about a associate in respiratory care therapy from Chattanooga State Community College

2

Jackson State Community College
Jackson, TN

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

7 Annual Graduates

Jackson State Community College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in respiratory care therapy. Located in the city of Jackson, JSCC is a public college with a small student population.More information about a associate in respiratory care therapy from Jackson State Community College

3

Volunteer State Community College
Gallatin, TN

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Volunteer State Community College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in respiratory care therapy. VSCC is a medium-sized public college located in the large suburb of Gallatin.More information about a associate in respiratory care therapy from Volunteer State Community College

4

Columbia State Community College
Columbia, TN

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

9 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in respiratory care therapy has to look into Columbia State Community College. Columbia State Community College is a moderately-sized public college located in the town of Columbia.More information about a associate in respiratory care therapy from Columbia State Community College

5

Walters State Community College
Morristown, TN

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

WSCC is a medium-sized public college located in the small city of Morristown.More information about a associate in respiratory care therapy from Walters State Community College

6

Concorde Career College - Memphis
Memphis, TN

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

49 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Memphis, Concorde Career College - Memphis is a private for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a associate in respiratory care therapy from Concorde Career College - Memphis

Best Respiratory Care Therapy Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Respiratory Care Therapy Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Mississippi	272	94
Florida	232	369
North Carolina	231	131
Georgia	217	110
West Virginia	180	38
Arkansas	161	66
Virginia	158	81
Kentucky	129	97
Louisiana	124	63
Alabama	109	77
South Carolina	105	94

View All Rankings >

Respiratory Care Therapy Related Rankings by Major

One of 23 majors within the Allied Health Professions area of study, Respiratory Care Therapy has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Majors Related to Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Surgical Technology	148
Medical Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiation Therapy	129
Radiologic Technology	95
Diagnostic Medical Sonography/Sonographer and Ultrasound Technician	59
Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic)	57
Cardiovascular Technology/Technologist	30
Electroneurodiagnostic/Electroencephalographic Technology/Technologist	15
Nuclear Medical Technology/Technologist	4

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.