2025 Best Health Professions Doctor's Degree Schools in Tennessee

Ranked #1 in popularity, health professions is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 10 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Health Professions Doctor's Degree Schools in Tennessee ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,494 doctor's degrees in health professions during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Health Professions School for Your Doctor's Degree

The health professions doctor's 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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on health professions students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of health professions students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for health professions to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized health professions related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for health professions students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Health Professions in Tennessee

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in health professions.

10 Top Tennessee Schools for a Doctorate in Health Professions

1

The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center
Memphis, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

601 Annual Graduates

The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in health professions. Located in the city of Memphis, UTHSC is a public university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from The University of Tennessee - Health Science Center

2

Union University
Jackson, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

72 Annual Graduates

Union University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in health professions. Located in the city of Jackson, Union is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Union University

3

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

55 Annual Graduates

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in health professions. UT Knoxville is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Knoxville.More information about a doctorate in health professions from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

4

Belmont University
Nashville, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

157 Annual Graduates

Belmont University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in health professions. Located in the city of Nashville, Belmont is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Belmont University

5

Lincoln Memorial University
Harrogate, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

340 Annual Graduates

Located in the distant town of Harrogate, LMU is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Lincoln Memorial University

6

Lipscomb University
Nashville, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

66 Annual Graduates

Lipscomb is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Lipscomb University

7

The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

66 Annual Graduates

UT Chattanooga is a large public university located in the midsize city of Chattanooga.More information about a doctorate in health professions from The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga

8

South College
Knoxville, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

260 Annual Graduates

South College is a moderately-sized private for-profit college located in the city of Knoxville.More information about a doctorate in health professions from South College

9

East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

221 Annual Graduates

ETSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Johnson City.More information about a doctorate in health professions from East Tennessee State University

10

Tennessee State University
Nashville, TN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

35 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Nashville, Tennessee State University is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in health professions from Tennessee State University

Best Health Professions Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Health Professions Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	29	3,725
Virginia	29	2,730
Georgia	28	2,018
Mississippi	28	656
South Carolina	28	1,055
North Carolina	26	2,134
Kentucky	26	1,505
Alabama	25	1,504
Louisiana	25	1,094
Arkansas	23	779
West Virginia	20	776

View All Rankings >

Health Professions Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Medicine	751
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	501
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	438
Nursing	394
Dentistry	180
Optometry	128
Communication Sciences	63
Allied Health Professions	22
Public Health	14
Mental & Social Health Services	3

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.