Overview of institution

This, and the rest of the page, use info from the most recent year available, generally 2023.

• Institution kind: Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity

• Undergrad program: Arts & sciences focus, high graduate coexistence

• Graduate program: Research Doctoral: Comprehensive programs, with medical/veterinary school

• Enrollment profile: Majority undergraduate (see more details below)

• Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: $25,606 (1.3 times the equivalent cost of Harvard).

• Actual price for your family: Go here to see what your family may be asked to pay. It can be MUCH lower than the average price but also higher for some.

• Size and setting: Four-year, large, highly residential

• In state percentage: 9.2% of first year students come from Tennessee

• In US percentage: 88% of first year students come from the US

• Graduation rate (within 6 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 92.8% (this is what is usually reported as “graduation rate”)

• Graduation rate (within 4 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 88.6%

• Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: 8.6 (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]

• Student to faculty ratio: 5.3 (undergrads to all faculty)

• Degrees offered: Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, Post master’s certificate, Doctor’s degree: research scholarship, Doctor’s degree: professional practice

• Schedule: Semester

• Institution provides on campus housing: Yes

• Dorm capacity: There are enough dorm beds for 5966 students

• Freshmen required to live on campus: Yes

• Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes

• Disabilities: 15.00 percent of undergrads are registered as having disabilities.

Map

Comparisons

The sections below show this institution compared with others. The ones listed are ones it has identified as peers, who consider themselves peers, and/or who the federal government considers peers. If a comparison school has the same value as the focal school, its cell is grayed out. Arrows show where there is a signficant trend over time for a school. You can swipe across the table to see more of it; the focal school column is always visible.

• Vanderbilt University lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: Northwestern University, New York University, Dartmouth College, University of Southern California, Washington University in St Louis, Tufts University, Tulane University of Louisiana, Rice University, Emory University, University of Rochester, Case Western Reserve University, Brandeis University
• Vanderbilt University compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University in the City of New York, Princeton University, Brown University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Carnegie Mellon University, Boston University, California Institute of Technology
• These institutions compare themselves to Vanderbilt University, but not vice versa: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, United States Naval Academy, University of Notre Dame, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Virginia-Main Campus, Bowdoin College, Boston College, Wake Forest University, University of Miami, William & Mary, Lehigh University, George Washington University, Baylor University, Syracuse University, Southern Methodist University, Pepperdine University, Regent University, Furman University, University of Tulsa, Baptist Health Sciences University, Samuel Merritt University, Graduate Theological Union, Frontier Nursing University

Diversity

The US Census Bureau has a diversity index that goes from 0 to 1. In their words, “A 0-value indicates that everyone in the population has the same racial and ethnic characteristics. A value close to 1 indicates that everyone in the population has different racial and ethnic characteristics.” This uses their formula, but with the resolution available for the federal IPEDS data (which does not separate for a given demographic group whether members identify as Hispanic or not). This metric is about heterogeneity within the population, not the proportion of the population that comes from historically excluded groups.

Following the practice of the census, the index is multiplied by 100 to give the percentage probability a random pair of individuals will have a different background. Most institutions argue that diversity is a benefit, so by default a higher number is listed as better, but there may be cases where this measure does not reflect the mission of a college (for example, 70% of the students at a tribal college or university may be American Indian: that could be low-scoring by this metric but should not be read as “bad” given the institution’s mission).

These numbers are based on the most recent year available, generally 2023, which predates effects of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action. This has often changed, sometimes dramatically, the incoming student demographics at some institutions.

Test scores

Majors

This presents information on the number of majors and the median earnings one and five years after graduation for people who got a degree from this institution in that field. The earnings are for those who are working and not enrolled in further education. The earnings data (from the federal college scorecard) also has information on earnings for those categorized as ‘MALE’ and ‘NOMALE’ – for readability, these are recategorized here as “Men” and “Women”, respectively, which adopts the gender binary used in other federal data. “W/M earnings ratio” is the median earnings of women divided by men, as a percentage.