News
Tennessee Tech again takes top spots in annual Payscale salary, ROI rankings
A view of Bell Hall, home to the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing, on Tennessee Tech’s
campus.
Tennessee Tech University has again delivered the highest return on investment and
the highest early career pay of any public university in the state, according to the
latest rankings from Payscale.
Payscale's 2023 College Salary Report and Best Value Colleges list show that Tech
offers a net 20-year return on investment of $453,000, outpacing its nearest in-state
public university competitor by nearly $90,000. The figure represents the difference
between 20-year median pay for an individual with a Tech undergraduate degree and
20-year median pay for an individual with a high school diploma, minus the cost of
tuition.
Likewise, Tech offers the highest early career pay of all public universities in Tennessee
with a median starting annual salary of $66,300, more than $3,400 ahead of its nearest
public university competitor. Among mid-career salaries, Tech finished in the top
two of all public institutions in the state.
Tech President Phil Oldham says the findings affirm Tech’s dedication to providing
a high-quality, affordable education that produces career-ready graduates.
“As this data shows, ‘students first’ is more than a slogan at Tennessee Tech, it’s
a commitment that our faculty and staff put into practice each day,” said Oldham.
“Tennessee Tech has always been about providing a quality education at an affordable
cost that prepares students for impactful, real-world careers. That is our mission
and mandate, and we are the best at doing it of any place I know.”
Payscale’s findings also affirm Tech’s status as the state’s leading STEM university.
Its College Salary Report finds that more than a quarter of all Tech degrees are in
the STEM field, the highest percentage of any public university in the state.
Finally, Payscale data shows that more than half of Tech graduates say their careers
make the world a better place, putting Tech’s “high meaning” index above the likes
of Ivy League institutions including Harvard University, Princeton University, Cornell
University and others.
The findings come as Tech was recently ranked as a best national university for the
ninth straight year by U.S. News & World Report and is expected to launch its highly
anticipated nuclear engineering degree program in the fall of 2024, pending final
approval by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
Payscale is a leading compensation software and data company helping employees understand
their worth in the job market. Read the full reports at www.payscale.com/college-roi and www.payscale.com/college-salary-report.
