Marketing at Lipscomb University

Lipscomb's marketing program sits in an interesting middle ground: it underperforms the national median by about $3,000 annually, but beats the typical Tennessee marketing graduate by roughly $800. Among Tennessee's 23 marketing programs, that 60th percentile ranking means graduates here earn more than about half their in-state peers, though they're not cracking into the top tier occupied by Belmont, UT-Knoxville, and Memphis. The debt level of $24,625 is fairly typical—slightly above the state median but close to the national benchmark—resulting in a manageable debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.59.

The caveat matters here: with fewer than 30 graduates in this dataset, a few outliers could skew these numbers significantly in either direction. That said, the gap between Lipscomb and Tennessee's top programs is substantial—Belmont and UT-Knoxville graduates start around $46,000, nearly $5,000 ahead. For families paying private school tuition, that's worth weighing carefully.

If your child is set on Lipscomb for fit or other reasons, the financial picture isn't alarming—the debt is reasonable and they'll likely earn slightly more than the average Tennessee marketing grad. But if maximizing early career earnings is the priority, Tennessee's flagship universities offer stronger starting salaries at lower cost.