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Community colleges in Tennessee

There are 17 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Tennessee reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $4,782 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Tennessee, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in Tennessee

  1. Nashville State Community CollegeNashville$4,730
  2. Motlow State Community CollegeTullahoma$4,738
  3. Jackson State Community CollegeJackson$4,740
  4. Walters State Community CollegeMorristown$4,752
  5. Volunteer State Community CollegeGallatin$4,756

Full Tennessee cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in Tennessee

  1. South CollegeKnoxville8,745
  2. Pellissippi State Community CollegeKnoxville6,715
  3. Nashville State Community CollegeNashville5,653
  4. Volunteer State Community CollegeGallatin5,339
  5. Chattanooga State Community CollegeChattanooga5,284

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. Pellissippi State Community CollegeKnoxville22%
  2. Columbia State Community CollegeColumbia17%
  3. Southwest Tennessee Community CollegeMemphis16%
  4. Nashville State Community CollegeNashville15%
  5. Roane State Community CollegeHarriman14%

Tennessee transfer guide →

All 17 community colleges in Tennessee

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Chattanooga State Community CollegeChattanooga5,284$4,772
Columbia State Community CollegeColumbia3,897$5,296
Dyersburg State Community CollegeDyersburg2,103$4,758
Fortis Institute-CookevilleCookeville334$15,120
Galen Health Institutes-Nashville CampusNashville1,027$17,048
Jackson State Community CollegeJackson2,511$4,740
John A Gupton CollegeNashville166$12,223
Miller-Motte College-ChattanoogaChattanooga4,462—
Motlow State Community CollegeTullahoma3,962$4,738
Nashville State Community CollegeNashville5,653$4,730
Northeast State Community CollegeBlountville4,404$4,782
Pellissippi State Community CollegeKnoxville6,715$4,786
Roane State Community CollegeHarriman3,250$4,998
South CollegeKnoxville8,745$18,535
Southwest Tennessee Community CollegeMemphis5,047$4,778
Volunteer State Community CollegeGallatin5,339$4,756
Walters State Community CollegeMorristown3,591$4,752

About community college in Tennessee

Tennessee's 17 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Tennessee community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Tennessee routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Tennessee's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.