Is Carson-Newman University Worth It?

Carson-Newman gives you a middling financial return that depends heavily on your major. At a net price near $18,700 a year and median earnings of $48,382 ten years out, you carry a real cost against pay that lands close to the national middle. Median debt of $21,500 is manageable if you graduate, but a 46% graduation rate means fewer than half of you finish, and dropping out with debt and no degree is the worst outcome here.

Nursing is the clear winner. It pays about $50,500, the only program on this list that clears the school's own median earnings, and the $23,000 debt load is justified by a healthcare job market that hires reliably in East Tennessee. Accounting follows at a distance and pairs solid pay with lower debt. The education programs are where the math gets hard. Special education, teacher education, and general teaching all pay in the mid-$30,000s, and teacher education carries the heaviest debt on the list at nearly $25,000. Borrowing that much for a job that pays $36,000 is a tight squeeze. Business administration sits in the same low band.

The net price tiers reward lower-income families and punish higher earners. If your family earns under $48,000, you pay around $15,000 to $15,800. Above $75,000, the price jumps to roughly $24,000 to $25,000, a $9,000 leap that makes Carson-Newman an expensive choice for middle- and upper-income families paying near sticker.

Come here for nursing, and the numbers work. If you're aiming for a teaching or general business degree and your family sits above the $75,000 income line, the return gets thin fast, and you should price out cheaper public options before committing.