Private Colleges
Specialized Education. Focused Learning.
East Tennessee is home to a variety of private colleges and universities, offering everything from liberal arts and business programs to law and medical degrees. These institutions provide specialized education in small, focused learning environments, preparing students for leadership roles in diverse industries.
- Carson-Newman University: A liberal arts college recognized as one of the best value schools in the region.
- Johnson University: A private, co-educational college; one of the oldest continuing Bible colleges in the country.
- King University: A Presbyterian, master’s-level comprehensive college structured on a university model offering more than 80 majors, minors, and pre-professional degrees.
- Lincoln Memorial University: A private four-year co-educational liberal arts college. The Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and Duncan School of Law are offered through LMU.
- Maryville College: A private four-year liberal arts college founded in 1819. It is one of the fifty oldest colleges in the United States and the twelfth oldest institution in the South.
- South College: A private, non-sectarian academic institution that offers professional and career-focused curricula.
- Strayer University: A private, for-profit educational institution that specializes in higher education for working adults seeking career advancement.
- Tennessee Wesleyan University: A liberal arts college with a branch campus in Knoxville that houses the Tennessee Wesleyan College and Fort Sanders School of Nursing and an evening business program.
- Tusculum University: A private college selected by the Carnegie Foundation as a model institution for education that encourages effective citizenship. It is Tennessee’s oldest college and the 23rd-oldest operating college in the United States.
