Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Elementary School Teachers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Middle Tennessee State University, Austin Peay State, Tennessee Technological University, and UT Martin.
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 Aquinas, Northeast State, Victory, and Austin Peay State.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Aquinas.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Aquinas, Victory, Tennessee State, and University of Memphis.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Lincoln Memorial, Victory, Union University, and Northeast State.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Vanderbilt University, Fisk, Johnson Bible College, and Tennessee Temple University.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Hiwassee, Tennessee Temple University, Free Will Baptist Bible, and Fisk.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Vanderbilt University, Aquinas, Belmont, and The University of Tennessee.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Victory, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee Temple University, and Memphis College of Art.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Hiwassee, Vanderbilt University, Fisk, and Free Will Baptist Bible.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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University Of Tennessee, Knoxville • Knoxville, TN
Studying B.A. In English W/ Minor In Elementary Education. (completion in 2007)
• 6/28/2011
"I loved Knoxville for all it was. The school opened me up to so much and who knows, I may return to get a doctorate."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The school prepared me as much as possible for being a grade school teacher. In addition, they helped me get placed into a job. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | I do not think my school's program of study is famous for anything in Education. However, I certainly found it to be great. |
| Program Quality | 8 | I found many of my professors to be great. However, there were several required core classes in which I learned nothing and were a waste of time. |
| Instruction | 8 | Usually, my work was relevant and challenging. However, there are some of those odd professors that are no good. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I had several friends who took engineering and I could not do that. While I worked hard, I think many other programs of study are more difficult. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | As far as the English program, it is very much oriented toward book learning, since I had to read literature. However, my elementary education minor required some hands-on work. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | There are no evening options, not that I needed them. Lots of classes are offered year round, though. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The Hodges Library provided everything I needed in terms of media (books mostly). There was even a writing center to help me with my papers. |
| Social Life | 7 | I had to study a great deal, so I was very busy. However, when I was free, I always would make time for my friends. It just depended on the time of year. |
| Placement Services | 9 | I got my teaching job through the career services office. They were so helpful. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | While I was offered some jobs though networking, they were really dry sources. However, Career Services though Knoxville helped me tremendously. |
University Of Tennessee, Knoxville • Johnson City, TN
Studying Early Childhood Education (completion in 2003)
• 6/28/2011
"I was very satisfied with my educational experience. I feel like I was well trained and given many opportunities to learn and grow as a student teacher."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | As I stated earlier, I was very satisfied with my educational experience. I feel like I was well trained for my job and had many opportunities to facilitate my education. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | My university seems to have a good reputation among educators. I haven't heard any negative responses. |
| Program Quality | 9 | My program did a thorough job of teaching me much of the background knowledge and information that helped me to be prepared to teach young children. There were many opportunities for hands-on teaching/learning, which was extremely valuable. |
| Instruction | 8 | Most professors were very knowledgeable and helpful. Almost all of my teachers and professors seemed interested in my development and growth as a teacher and made time for me. |
| How Difficult | 7 | My program was challenging, but if one put enough time and effort into the work, it was not impossible. I think there could have been more emphasis on actual classroom practices and techniques (as opposed to mainly child development and behavior classes). |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In the beginning of my program, there was more of a focus on book learning. As I progressed, and especially towards the end, there were many hands on opportunities for learning and practicing what you've been taught. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | My university had all those "flexible options" available. But as you came to your more concentrated study classes, there was less flexibility and less class times to choose from. Some classes were only offered once per year. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Although our actual classrooms were held in old buildings, they had plenty of computer labs, etc. available. Throughout the university, there were excellent resources with the most current technologies and information. There were also several child development labs on campus that had excellent spaces and materials available. |
| Social Life | 7 | Athletics were big at UT and there were many opportunities for socializing there. I didn't live on campus, so I'm not fully informed of all the school-sponsored social opportunities. |
| Placement Services | 7 | There was a career services center on campus, although I didn't utilize it much. They did, however, send people to our classes to help with resumes and mock interviews. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | Since graduating, I haven't heard much from our alumni group, except to donate funds. There may be options available to contact other alumni, but I haven't searched them out. |
Lee University • Cleveland, TN
Studying Telecommunications (completion in 2007)
• 7/26/2011
"I had a fantastic and memorable overall experience at Lee University. The campus was beautiful. The people are friendly. The tuition is affordable. The professors were solid. Had a great four years."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It's grown a lot, so yes, I would recommend it. And there is also a lot of individual attention, which helps. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | It's nothing spectacular, but it is growing. The campus is expanding through the construction of new buildings and by admitting more students. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The field of communications was expanding during my four-year enrollment. I'm not sure how it is today, but I'm assuming it's better. |
| Instruction | 8 | The professors at Lee are outstanding. I had great encouragement from several of them. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I enjoyed studying. It was neither challenging nor easy. It was an average amount of work. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Mostly both. Maybe a little bit book heavy. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | Professors and schedules were very flexible with many options. If you needed to work out something because of a job, they were able to assist you and meet your needs. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Awesome library and resource center. The Student Union was a great addition. |
| Social Life | 10 | I was super involved. Almost too involved. There are multiple options at Lee if you're looking for a social network. |
| Placement Services | 6 | The peer counselors are open and willing to meet with students to help them meet their career needs and answer their questions. I found them helpful. |
| Alumni Network | 2 | I don't think I've even heard about our alumni network. |
Christian Brothers University • Memphis, TN
Studying Human Development (completion in 2004)
• 8/12/2011
"I wish there had been more hands-on experiences, but the faculty was very helpful and caring. I wish there had been fewer history of education/theory classes and more methods classes."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | It would depend on whether the person already had some experience. If they did, then the faculty would do a wonderful job of adding to their information bank, refining their experiences. If they were entering the department with no experience, I would suggest they go elsewhere. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | It is neither sought out nor shunned. Its graduates do have a very good reputation among the poorer neighborhoods and schools, though. |
| Program Quality | 5 | My mom was a teacher and I feel I learned how to teach from being in her classroom as opposed to a college classroom. I entered school not knowing how to teach someone to read and graduated still not knowing. My observation of my fellow education students was that they felt tossed in the deep end. |
| Instruction | 4 | We learned lots of nice theories, but not any useful methods. This caused quite a bit of panic for most of us during our first placements. |
| How Difficult | 7 | Despite its lack of real classroom-worthy techniques, the courses were interesting. The instructors also provided many challenges. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | My experience was more heavily weighted towards book learning. The program has since shifted towards a more equal mix. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | The schedule is extremely flexible. This is doubly impressive considering the small size of the department's faculty. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The school does a good job of making use of its facilities. The faculty does a good job of training their students to be familiar with the technology they will have the opportunity to use in the public schools. |
| Social Life | 9 | The school offers a wide array of social experiences, working hard to include greeks and the unaffiliated. They also work to include the community. |
| Placement Services | 4 | While CBU has these services, I do not believe they offer them to education majors. As previously stated, there is not much they can do for incoming teachers in the current school system. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | Due to the Memphis City Schools hiring process, there is not much alumni can do to help new teachers as far as job placement goes. Private schools offer slightly more latitude. |
Cumberland University • Lebanon, TN
Studying Education (completion in 2003)
• 9/18/2011
"This was a good choice for me. The scheduling made the degree more attainable."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend this school to others. It was truly a great fit for me. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | My school had a great reputation for this program at the time. They have since changed it and I haven't heard of anyone attending there. |
| Program Quality | 10 | My school did an excellent job of providing me with a quality education. I appreciate what I was able to learn there. |
| Instruction | 10 | My teachers were professionals in the field. I had the privilege of learning from current principals and superintendents. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The course load was specially designed for working adults. We did not visit campus very often. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a good mix. I would have loved more technology-based work. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | At the time, we only went to school once a semester. All other work was to be completed and mailed in to the instructors. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | The campus was beautiful. It was small with a sense of sophistication. |
| Social Life | 2 | I was not on campus for these activities. I imagine the students who live nearby enjoyed them. |
| Placement Services | 3 | I had no contact with this department. I cannot truthfully tell you if it is adequate. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | I have been contacted several times about making donations. They do have a good email contact system. |
University Of Tennessee • Knoxville, TN
Studying Elementary Education (completion in 1998)
• 10/6/2011
"Overall it was OK, but not wonderful. Fortunately, I educate myself and ask many questions. Other people won't do that and will fail miserably. I think many of the teachers were more interested in their foreign trips and research than in the students. Other teachers had an obvious deep resentment of the students. They should have been gone a long time ago."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | Can they afford to go to another school? I would recommend other local colleges before the University of Tennessee. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Now they require all education students to get a Master's degree before teaching. This isn't a state requirement, but a university one. It is perceived as being a better school because of this requirement. |
| Program Quality | 8 | My college provided me with adequate preparation, but not as much practical prep. I learned much more from other teachers than from college. |
| Instruction | 8 | I was given "silly" activities to do that had nothing to do with teaching, but took up a great deal of time. I had to make games and flashcards when they would never be used. I would always buy them. I became resentful. |
| How Difficult | 5 | Undergraduate school was boring and required far too much busy work. Graduate school provided me with more knowledge that I could use to understand my students and to be a better teacher. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | They truly want to be a hands on school, but it just doesn't happen very well. Too many of the teachers in the city system just don't want to turn over their classrooms to a student. Again, it goes back to the stupid standardized testing and the fear of losing your job. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | If you want a degree badly enough, then there are times and ways to get it. Condensed summer sessions are very hard, but cover a lot a material and you can finish several courses in one summer. |
| Academic Facilities | 2 | Our facilities are very old, crowded, dirty, and dismal. We have one really good academic adviser, but the rest are hit or miss. One caused me to have to repeat 18 hours of graduate school because she was inept. |
| Social Life | 5 | I made many friends in the education department and maintained those friendships for several years. UT is known to be a party school, but that wasn't an interest of mine. |
| Placement Services | 3 | I never received any help in undergraduate school. The graduate school teachers were very willing to help. |
| Alumni Network | 2 | This university is so large that it is overflowing with student teachers. However, graduate school did provide a much, much better support system. |
Middle Tennessee State University • Murfreesboro, TN
Studying Education (completion in 2004)
• 11/3/2011
"I am satisfied with my school and I loved going there. I don't have much to complain about."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | It really depends on what you are studying. Some programs at the school are very good and some are enough to get you through. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | It can improve on certain areas. There is always room to improve. |
| Program Quality | 8 | I became a successful teacher. They taught me everything I needed to know about teaching. |
| Instruction | 8 | The instructors were all intelligent and great teachers. They knew the material very well and explained material very well. |
| How Difficult | 5 | It wasn't the hardest program, but it wasn't the easiest. If you challenged yourself, it was hard. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a good mix. Some teachers liked to teach from the book and some liked to teach using hands-on activities. But a mix of the two was encouraged. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | Again, this depends on each person. It is different for everyone, but my schedule was pretty relaxed and flexible. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | We had a lot of great resources. The school can always improve, but it had a really nice facility compared to a lot of other schools. |
| Social Life | 10 | School spirit was great. There were always parties and social events happening. |
| Placement Services | 9 | They are pretty good with placement. I don't have anything to complain about. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | I'm not as connected with other alumni. Occasionally we will meet up, but not much is done through the school. |
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