Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Executive Secretaries And Administrative Assistants
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Pellissippi State, Volunteer State Community College, Walters State Community College, and Chattanooga State.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Nashville State, Southwest Tennessee Community College, Pellissippi State, and Roane State Community College.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider West Tennessee Business College.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Roane State Community College, Southwest Tennessee Community College, West Tennessee Business College, and Nashville State.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Nashville State, Cleveland State Community College, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and Northeast State.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Chattanooga State.
Excellence
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at West Tennessee Business College and Chattanooga State.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
Sort Reviews By:Sorting by: • Show All Details • Hide All Details
Tusculum College • Greeneville, TN
Studying Organizational Management (completion in 2009)
• 8/20/2011
"I am definitely grateful that they made higher learning a possibility for me as an adult student. I just wish they had helped me get a job afterward. Any effort at all would be better than what I got."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | I would suggest getting a 2-year degree somewhere. My tuition was almost $30,000. |
| Program Reputation | 4 | I had a very hard time finding a job when I graduated, simply because nobody had heard of Tusculum. Also, "Organizational Management" led people to believe that I organized closet spaces for a living. |
| Program Quality | 2 | The courses seemed to be disjointed. I was takinglLeadership classes and statistics classes, and marketing and speech, but there was nothing that really tied them into the real world of business. |
| Instruction | 2 | My degree program did not provide me with the tools I needed to succeed. I had to take a course after I had graduated to learn how to write a resume. I also have very little knowledge of how to do anything other than simple accounting. |
| How Difficult | 6 | The program was a little difficult. The courses were taken one at a time, one day a week. But the class was for 4 hours, seldom with a break, and so we were left to teach ourselves when class was over. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The school setup required us to self-teach most of the material. There is just no way to get hands-on experience when you're at school for 4 hours a week. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | I only had to go to school for 4 hours every week. If I had to miss a class, the professors were very amiable about make-up work. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | The school was designed for adults who were learning later in life, so they made everything accessible for a person who has a hectic life. The library and study rooms were available in the evening hours rather than mornings, which was very convenient. |
| Social Life | 1 | There were no sports teams or games to go to. Also, adult learning means that there are no dorms or cafeterias. |
| Placement Services | 1 | Like I said before, I had a very hard time finding a job after graduation. The college offered some job fairs, but they were mostly people seeking health care professionals or recruiters for the military. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | I actually have no idea how to answer this question. The school is really small, so the alumni doesn't really support sports teams or anything like that. I didn't really hear anything about alumni during my coursework. |
Tennessee Technological Center • Livingston, TN
Studying Administrative Assistant (completion in 2006)
• 9/27/2011
"I think I made the right decision. If I had to do it all over again, I would."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | For the amount of time/money it made sense for me to better myself. I don't think a person can ever get behind by trying to become something more. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Haven't been back since I graduated. Haven't really heard anything or tried to keep up. |
| Program Quality | 10 | Not only did I receive training, but TTCL placed me in my job. I know that with the economy the way it is, a lot of people went to school but then couldn't find a job. |
| Instruction | 10 | I have no complaints with the curriculum. I believe it prepared me for my job. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I have very proficient computer skills so Excel, Word, and Powerpoint were very easy for me. The accounting, on the other hand, was hard. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We worked out of books, but mostly we had to do computer work. We used transcriptors and also adding machines. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 1 | For every minute we were late they docked 30 minutes. It was a lot worse then even being in high school. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | There were all sorts of resources open to us. We had study groups and even after class tutoring. |
| Social Life | 8 | I met a lot of new people from surrounding counties. Quite a few of the girls I still keep up with. |
| Placement Services | 10 | I had a job interview while finishing up my schooling. Days after finishing I had a job that they had helped to place me in. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | I live in a very small town and I knew most of the staff. They were friends and family of friends and I had a great overall experience. |
Tennessee Tech • Cookeville, TN
Studying Music Education (completion in 1999)
• 10/3/2011
"I was very satisfied with the university. It helped me grow and become a self-sufficient adult ready for the workplace."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | There would be no reason to study there to become an administrative assistant. I think it depends on drive and motivation. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | It is rated highly among every state. It also has the best instructors worldwide in some areas. |
| Program Quality | 10 | The university had the best music school in the state at the time. It was very rewarding. |
| Instruction | 5 | At that time, computer technology was growing by leaps and bounds. I think they prepared us as best they could at the time. |
| How Difficult | 9 | A music major has many aspects to learn, including classroom learning and practical studies. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Everything was hands on and lab orientated. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | At the time, there were no online classes. Very flexible in weekend and evening. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | There was always professor support with open-door policies. At the time, computer labs should have been more hands on. |
| Social Life | 7 | There were always social functions. Everyone was friendly and you were always welcome. |
| Alumni Network | 2 | Many people do not participate in alumni functions. They are not coordinated to make it easy for all. |
Tennessee State University • Nashville, TN
Studying English (completion in 2010)
• 10/16/2011
"I was satisfied slightly above average. I learned a lot and got the degree I wanted. I wish the school had a better reputation and was more academically challenging."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | I probably would not recommend my school. I think there are better choices now for my career. A bachelor's degree is not really necessary for my career so I would probably recommend a person just get an associate's degree. |
| Program Reputation | 4 | The school's reputation is not very good in general. Most people in Nashville know that TSU is not a prestigious school and the academics are not very challenging. |
| Program Quality | 5 | My school was the closest affordable university to my house, which is why I chose it. It is not a particularly good academic school. Also, the administration was pretty frustrating to deal with. They are unorganized and incompetent. The English program was not very challenging. |
| Instruction | 5 | The quality of instruction was average. Some of the teachers were very good, some were very bad, and most were in between. I would say that compared with other schools, the quality of instruction at TSU is average. |
| How Difficult | 4 | The program was not very difficult. There was a lot of reading and writing, especially writing essays. The topics were not very difficult and the tests were relatively simple. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The learning was primarily book learning. There was not a lot of hands-on except in classes that had accompanying lab sections like some of the science and computer classes. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | The school caters to older students and those working full time. As a result, there is good flexibility in class schedule. There are many evening, weekend, and online classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The libraries and computer labs are quite good. The classroom space is updated and modern. Tutors and study support is available and the professors have adequate office hours. |
| Social Life | 4 | The social experience is not very good. Most students are commuters, so there is not a lot of socializing on campus. |
| Placement Services | 6 | The placement office was pretty active and did a slightly above average job. The career counseling was also fairly extensive and had many resources available to students. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | The alumni support is quite good, definitely above average. Most alumni are local and, as a result, the amount of contact and support provided is good. |
South College • Knoxville, TN
Studying Business Administration And Accounting (completion in 2011)
• 10/28/2011
"I loved it while I was there. They do need more online classes and more student activities. The tuition was also quite high and they had fees for paper and "technology" which was ridiculous."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | They have good programs and great teachers that are always willing to help. I believe that if you are willing to learn and work hard that you will succeed there. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | South College started as a business school and that is what they have been known for. Lately though they have been moving towards a focus on nursing. |
| Program Quality | 10 | The program was great. It was very intensive and I feel it provided me with the tools to enter into a successful career. |
| Instruction | 10 | The teachers were always willing to help, even outside of class. The school also allows teachers to decide on their own way of teaching which makes for more interesting classes. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The program was difficult but not as difficult as say, a nursing program. There was ample work load as well. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It is mostly book learning. They could definitely use more hands-on activities. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | They are very flexible in regards to offering a good selection of day and evening classes. They need to work on providing more online classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | They have just about everything that you could need. They could use newer computers though. |
| Social Life | 7 | They could use more social activities for all of the students. Most of the social activities that they currently have are focused on nursing or radiography students instead of the whole student body. |
| Placement Services | 5 | The school needs major work in this area. They barely do placement and it is usually with temp agencies. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | There is no real alumni network. There is support but it isn't that great. |
Middle Tennessee State University • Murfreesboro, TN
Studying Political Science (completion in 2004)
• 11/17/2011
"I love to learn and enjoyed MTSU very much. My only complaints would be that they didn't really prepare students for real life and that there wasn't a sense of community among older/more mature learners."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | MTSU is a good school for Political Science, English, Communications, Equine professionals and other degrees. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of crime associated with the school in the last 5 years that was not there when I had attended; I would warn others about that. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | Middle Tennessee State is one of the bigger colleges in the state of Tennessee. Vanderbilt University is less than an hour away, and they have the state's best law school; a Political Science or English degree from MTSU is beneficial if you plan to attend Vanderbilt Law. |
| Program Quality | 8 | I enjoyed school very much and feel that I did get a good education from MTSU. I believe that there is not enough emphasis on real-world experience and if there was, I think more people would have degrees closer in line to what career path they actually end up on. |
| Instruction | 8 | My instructors were very accessible, approachable, intelligent and easy to understand. I did have some professors that were nationals of other countries, and those classes were harder because of the language difference. |
| How Difficult | 5 | Some classes were very easy as far as workload; most of what my curriculum called for was reading assignments. Spanish II was the only class that I really struggled with. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Reading got me through college; it was probably a good 85% of my requirements. I had some papers, and there were not a lot of internships available, nor were they very interesting to me. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | MTSU had very flexible classes - online, nights, weekends, etc. I can't recall ever having a scheduling problem. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | MTSU was getting bigger and newer facilities when I was in college there, and it still is getting work and money put into the facilities. There is a new honors building, library, state-of-the-art communications department, and an art barn. The liberal arts building, English, political science, etc., still needs to be updated/rebuilt. |
| Social Life | 5 | I was in my mid-20's when I started college, and I didn't fit in with the kids straight from high school. The younger students appeared to have a strong sense of community; older students did fit as there were many 25-35 year olds about, but not with organized events, parties and such. |
| Placement Services | 2 | I was never contacted or provided with any career information. Colleges really should have a real-life working experience class, not an internship, to help students find the right path. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | Before my graduation, I was never contacted or provided information about jobs. I get an alumni paper about every quarter asking for money. |
ETSU • Johnson City, TN
Studying Accounting (completion in 2010)
• 12/4/2011
"It left a few things wanting. I did enjoy the experience, though."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | ETSU is a very helpful school, once you get into it. It's a great place to attend, with good faculty and staff. |
| Program Reputation | I'm not sure if they have much of a reputation for accounting. It kind of goes unnoticed, usually. | |
| Program Quality | 9 | ETSU is a great all-around school. I'd go back for anything. |
| Instruction | 8 | I would have preferred internships or better explanations of what the jobs can entail. |
| How Difficult | 7 | I only really had a problem with the math. The other areas weren't too hard. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Most of what I learned was from books. I would have liked more of a hands-on experience. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | Great flexibility. Lots of online options for certain classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Great libraries. Easy to get all the information I needed. |
| Social Life | I didn't attend most social events. I don't enjoy extracurricular activities. | |
| Placement Services | I found my job myself. I uploaded my resume and was hired. | |
| Alumni Network | I wasn't involved with alumni. We had advisors, though. |
Middle Tennessee State University • Murfreesboro, TN
Studying Liberal Studies (completion in 2010)
• 1/28/2012
"MTSU allowed me to earn a bachelor's degree with the flexibility I needed due to work constraints. I found this a positive challenge for me as part of my educational experience. I was very happy to be able to fulfill my educational goals while at the same time meeting my employment requirements."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I have already recommended MTSU to several people I know who lack a few hours of completing their degree. MTSU offers a very strong support system to all students by making many resources available to ensure student success. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | MTSU has an excellent reputation for their online degree programs. Demand for these programs has significantly increased, causing the university to create new and additional online degrees, such as a hybrid MBA program. |
| Program Quality | 10 | MTSU offered a 100% online degree option that could be completed while working full-time. Without the option to complete my degree online, I would not have been able to earn my degree and work at the same time. |
| Instruction | 10 | The online courses were just as rigorous or more so than classroom courses. I felt quite challenged at times to perform additional research in order to complete coursework effectively. |
| How Difficult | 7 | While I believe the program of study to be very demanding, I did not find the coursework to be overly difficult. However, this could be due to the fact that I am an adult learner, as opposed to a college freshman right out of high school. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Although I participated in online courses consisting mostly of book learning, I did have many opportunities to perform hands-on activities for classes. For instance, I worked on lab exercises for an astronomy course, which included tracking the movement of the moon during the day, measuring the temperature of the sun, and observing various planets as they appeared in close proximity to the earth. My communications course required me to attend four campus classes in which speech presentations were required. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | MTSU offers a wide range of class schedule options, such as day, evening, weekend, online, summer, and accelerated 8-week courses. In addition, MTSU offers many satellite locations to participate in classes, such as community colleges, video classrooms, technical schools, and correspondence courses. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | MTSU resources are very accessible to all students. I utilized the on-campus libraries as well as virtual libraries, and I had frequent email correspondence and in-person meetings with my academic advisor. Smartthinking tutors were available, and professors were very responsive to questions, needs, or problems, either by phone or email. |
| Social Life | 5 | As an online student working full-time, I did not participate regularly in school spirit activities. However, the university has a very strong student, community, and alumni following. MTSU is positively portrayed frequently in the media on a regular basis, through their sports programs, available guest speakers, music program, and homecoming activities. |
| Placement Services | 3 | All new graduates have about six months of access to career services assistance after graduation. I found that the job placement/career services program did not take much initiative to reach out to graduates, either by mail or electronically. This program definitely lacks communication with its new graduates. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | MTSU's alumni network is very involved in keeping former students in touch and informed of college matters, without being intrusive. I receive email correspondence two or three times a month of upcoming alumni events, as well as a quarterly magazine that is mailed to my home. This magazine highlights alumni accomplishments and opportunities for graduates. |
Southwest Tennessee Community College • Memphis, TN
Studying Business Administration (completion in 2011)
• 2/2/2012
"I am satisfied because the tuition was affordable. Also, I was able to take my time in earning my degree. The school is very basic when it comes to learning and doesn't involve much red tape in order to get an education."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend my school to older adults, parents, and those who are working outside of school. The school has at least five locations in the area, and has classes online, so taking a class is extremely convenient. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | The business administration program is extremely good because most employers are looking for candidates in that field. Also, more time and effort is put into that program because the majority of students major in that program. |
| Program Quality | 9 | My school had courses available that I was able to transfer to a four year college. The program major itself was flexible with my schedule and has more than one location to take classes. |
| Instruction | 5 | The quality of instruction was average because it didn't really apply to HR. What we learned in the classroom was just an overall generalization of business, such as the different types of businesses and basic bookkeeping, etc. |
| How Difficult | 6 | Outside of business classes the most difficult classes were electives. Philosophy was basically a waste of time and shouldn't have been required in order to graduate. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The program at my school was more about learning from the book since business isn't a technical field, like art or something similar. Book learning made more sense anyway. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | The majority of classes can be taken online, in the evening, and on the weekends. The school has most classes scheduled every spring, fall, and summer, so its easy to catch up on classes you may not have been able to take in the previous semester. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The school is doing better with the facilities, such as by building a new library. Along with the new library is new parking, which one of the main campuses has need really badly. |
| Social Life | 7 | I didn't participate in any after school activities. However, since a good number of the students were older, it was easier to make friends. |
| Placement Services | 2 | The job placement and career services assistance is non existent. The school can do better with letting students and alumni know about career opportunities by trying to at least keep in contact. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | The school could do better with alumni support. Instead of reaching out to alumni, one has to find resources and help on their own and it can be frustrating at times because you don't know what questions to ask. |
Bryan College • Dayton, TN
Studying Business Administration (completion in 2011)
• 2/2/2012
"I am very glad that I attended Bryan, and if I had to make the college choice again, I would definitely pick Bryan. I am considering getting a masters, but because Bryan's graduate program is still very small, I don't think that I would choose to attend Bryan for that degree."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | If you are thinking about attending Bryan for business, I would recommend that you get involved in the SIFE association. Also, don't just attend for the business program; do it for the school as a whole, including the culture of Bryan and the other opportunities to be involved in student life. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Bryan's SIFE team has done very well within in the regional and national competitions, even though they have only been around for a few years. As a result, I believe that the initiation of this program has served to increase the stature of Bryan's program, as it was relatively unknown in the business world before. |
| Program Quality | 6 | I attended Bryan College primarily because of the school environment and extra-curricular opportunities, not necessarily because of the quality of their business program. I believe that I learned as much from my volunteer and extracurricular opportunities as I did from my major classes. I would rate Bryan's business program as about average. |
| Instruction | 6 | My answer from the previous question applies here as well. Because I would like to be involved in the non-profit sector eventually, I wish that there would have been more class opportunities that were specifically relevant to that sector. However, Bryan is a small school, so that is to be expected. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I did not find my major of study too difficult for the most part. Of course, there were some classes that were more difficult than others, but on the whole, I did fine. I know that there were some who struggled, but again, that is to be expected as well. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I would say that there is more book learning throughout the program, but some of the classes are very much hands on, particularly as you get into the higher level classes. I think that that is simply the nature of the business major, as opposed to other majors, such as those in education and the sciences. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | Bryan is a small college, so they do not have as many class options as many other schools might. There were no weekend classes, though they did have evening classes. Their summer and online classes are continuing to expand. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Bryan has a very good library system, considering the school's size. Academic advisors are incredibly open to meeting with students and there is a very low ratio of students to professors. Bryan also has an excellent Academic Support Center, with many peer tutors. Classroom space is adequate for the program's size. |
| Social Life | 10 | I had a great social experience at the school; again, that is one of the reasons why I went to Bryan. School spirit was very high, and there were many events organized by the Student Government Association. There were also multiple clubs and outreach organizations to be involved in. The Student Life Office is of very high caliber, and I enjoyed being a Resident Assistant through them for two years. I also led an outreach organization for two years. |
| Placement Services | 7 | Bryan's career services personnel visited my business capstone class on several occasions during my senior year, and had a lot of helpful advice about interviews and resumes. Other than those occasions, I did not regularly use Bryan's career services. Still, they often hosted open house events and made themselves available to those who were interested. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | Bryan is a small college, and as a result, there is a high level of camaraderie within the college. That is one of the reasons that I chose to attend Bryan. I have found that the alumni association is quite willing to help in whatever way they can, and do a great job of staying in touch. |
Online Course Finder
Find the path to your
education in 3 easy steps.