Tennessee has 9 ranked online MBAs at AACSB-accredited business schools,
7 at public universities and 2 at private ones, plus 1 listed below without a rank.
Every one can be completed fully online, so studying at one does not mean moving to
Tennessee; the state matters mainly for price at public schools, and for readers who want a
school they know or a network where they work.
The ranking is the same one used nationally: graduate earnings from College Scorecard against
the tuition each school reports to AACSB. Cards are numbered by position in Tennessee, and each
shows the program's national rank. Program summaries come from each school's own online MBA
page, with the date it was read. How the scores work.
The Top 9 Online MBA Programs In Tennessee
In Tennessee#1
Score55.7
The University of Memphis
Online MBA (OMBA)Fogelman College of Business and Economics
Online MBA programs in Tennessee · Memphis, Tennessee · Public · AACSB business and accounting
A globally themed core, from Economics for the Global Executive to Global Strategic Marketing, leads to a capstone, Global Strategic Management, taken in the final semester.
The OMBA totals 36 credit hours: 10 three-credit core courses plus two graduate electives offered by the Fogelman College. Students who work full time typically take two courses (6 hours) per semester, and the college estimates 6 to 9 hours of study time per week for each course.
Applicants need a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and a GPA of at least 2.75, and those meeting one of several criteria, such as a 3.0 undergraduate GPA from another school, a U.S. graduate degree, or five or more years managing at least 10 direct reports, do not need the GRE or GMAT. The program is built for students without time to attend classes in person, and its current students average 5 to 7 years of work experience.
Students take three classes a semester, each offered asynchronously every 5 weeks, in a fully online, non-thesis MBA open to graduates of any major.
The General MBA requires 30 credit hours, and concentrations in Agriculture Business, Sport Business or Human Resource Management add 3 credit hours for a 33-hour degree; the program can be completed in 18 months. Students must maintain a 3.00 GPA in MBA coursework and earn at least a B in the program capstone.
Designed for working professionals, the MBA is open to holders of a bachelor's degree in any area, and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 brings unconditional admission with the GMAT/GRE automatically waived. Applicants with a 2.75 to 2.99 GPA are admitted conditionally with the GMAT/GRE also waived, those with 2.70 to 2.74 can have it waived by documenting four or more years of relevant work experience or U.S. military service, and those with 2.50 to 2.69 must reach 950 points on a GPA-plus-GMAT formula. Applicants submit two professional or community-based references.
Key program details
30 credit hours; 33 with concentration
Asynchronous classes every 5 weeks
GMAT/GRE waived with 3.0 GPA
Can be completed in 18 months
Non-thesis, fully online
Program page reviewed September 21, 2026: utm.edu. AACSB
In Tennessee#5
Score51.6
Union University
Master of Business Administration (MBA)McAfee School of Business
Online MBA programs in Tennessee · Jackson, Tennessee · Private · AACSB accredited
Whole-program tuition at Tennessee's ranked online MBAs runs from $12,978 to $54,000, with a median of $27,510 , below the $32,265 median for all ranked programs. The 7 public programs have a median of $27,510, the 2 private ones $27,900.
4 public schools in Tennessee report a lower price for residents:
Tennessee State University: $9,452 for Tennessee residents, $19,928 for everyone else.
Middle Tennessee State University: $29,040 for Tennessee residents, $39,120 for everyone else.
Tennessee Technological University: $23,310 for Tennessee residents, $27,510 for everyone else.
University of Tennessee at Martin: $11,916 for Tennessee residents, $12,978 for everyone else.
Tuition is the whole-program figure each school reports to AACSB. Schools update it on their own schedule and some exclude fees, so it can trail the price on the school's own site: Illinois reports $24,984 to AACSB for the iMBA, and its program page lists $27,288 in total tuition and fees. Use it to compare programs, and confirm the current price with the school.
What Managers Earn In Tennessee
There is no federal figure for MBA salaries, but BLS reports pay by occupation, and general and
operations management is the broadest role MBA graduates move into. In Tennessee its median is
$106,970, $1,200 above the national
$105,770, 20th highest of the 51 states BLS reports.
The middle of the range is wide: $50,820 at the 10th percentile and $230,660 at the 90th. The state has 63,720 people in the job. Figures are from the May 2025 release.
MBA salaries by occupation covers the other roles.
Tennessee Online MBA Programs Listed Without A Rank
These AACSB-accredited schools report a fully online MBA but lack one of the two figures the
ranking needs: College Scorecard earnings for the school's business master's graduates, or a
tuition figure reported to AACSB.
Austin Peay State University$29,280
Common Questions About Studying In Tennessee
Is an online MBA worth it?
What can be checked is the price against the earnings. The 9 ranked Tennessee programs report a median $27,510 for the whole degree, and their schools' business master's graduates earned a median $73,800 a year after finishing. No federal source reports what the same people would have earned without the degree, so that is a description of the group rather than a return.
Will federal aid pay for an online MBA?
Graduate students file the same FAFSA as undergraduates and the programs here are at accredited institutions, so federal loans are generally available; grants largely are not, since Pell is an undergraduate program. This site does not model aid: the tuition on every card is the published whole-program figure the school reports to AACSB, before any aid.
What is the best online MBA program in Tennessee?
On this ranking, The University of Memphis, which is 98th of 286 nationally. University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Tennessee State University are next in Tennessee. The ranking weighs graduate earnings against tuition, so a program with high earnings and a high price can place below a cheaper one.
What is the cheapest online MBA in Tennessee?
For Tennessee residents, Tennessee State University at $9,452, its in-state price. For students from other states, University of Tennessee at Martin at $12,978. Both are whole-program figures the schools report to AACSB.
How many AACSB-accredited online MBA programs are there in Tennessee?
10 AACSB-accredited schools in Tennessee report a fully online MBA to AACSB. 9 of them are ranked here, and 1 is listed without a rank because a figure the ranking needs is not published.
What do managers earn in Tennessee?
BLS puts the median for general and operations managers in Tennessee at $106,970, $1,200 above the national median of $105,770. That is an occupation figure, not an MBA salary; federal data does not report pay by degree.
Online MBA Programs In Other States
An online MBA does not tie you to the school's state. 73 of the
202 public schools ranked here report a higher out-of-state price for it. These are
the other states with enough ranked programs for a page of their own.
Accreditation, online MBA offerings, concentrations and tuition: AACSB's list of accredited schools, retrieved September 21, 2026. Program details on that list are reported to AACSB by each school.
Graduate earnings and debt: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field-of-study file (Most-Recent-Cohorts-Field-of-Study_06102026.zip), business master's in CIP 52.01 and 52.02.
Institution identifiers: IPEDS, used to match each AACSB school to its federal records.
