The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga

The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga operates as a public institution located in Chattanooga, Tennessee (city: midsize), with a total reported enrollment of 10,074 students of which 10,827 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga is categorized as “17” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 81.1%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,147 and an ACT midpoint of 23. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $14,265, with published in-state tuition of $10,448 and a Pell grant recipient share of 32.8%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $19,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 51.6%, and the first-year retention rate is 72.5%. Graduates earn a median of $51,151 ten years after enrolling, compared with $42,209 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 395900.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 61.3% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.