“Private Baptist university in Jefferson City, Tennessee offering roughly 90 academic programs.”
Carson-Newman University is a private Christian liberal-arts institution in Jefferson City, Tennessee, about 25 minutes east of Knoxville and within sight of the Great Smoky Mountains. Founded in 1851 and historically affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention, Carson-Newman enrolls roughly 2,300 students drawn from across the U.S. and more than 30 countries, offering 121 majors through a residential campus where the student-to-faculty ratio is about 12 to 1. The university is organized around an explicitly Christ-centered mission, and faculty emphasize personal mentoring, small seminar-style classes and service-oriented learning rather than large lecture halls. Carson-Newman's most recognized programs sit at the intersection of the health sciences and the liberal arts. Nursing is the university's flagship: the Department of Nursing offers CCNE-accredited Traditional BSN, Accelerated BSN, RN-to-BSN and MSN pathways, and C-N's online MSN programs have been ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News. Business Administration, Education, Pre-Medicine/Biology and Psychology round out the most popular majors, while the university's Appalachian Center, music programs and Baptist-mission partnerships give a distinctive regional and faith-based character to co-curricular life. For international students, Carson-Newman's small scale is itself a feature: the Center for Global Education / Office of International Student Services pairs new arrivals with advisors who handle I-20 issuance, SEVIS reporting, F-1 maintenance, and CPT/OPT authorization personally. The university recruits actively in Asia, Africa and Latin America, offers merit scholarships layered with institutional aid for qualifying international freshmen, and hosts cultural programming through a tight-knit international student community on its 95-acre campus — a setting that combines a slower, relational Southern pace with direct access to Knoxville, UT Medical Center, and the Smokies.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceRolling Admission
Rolling review; earlier applications maximize scholarship consideration
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$34,700
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
CCNE-accredited nursing department offering Traditional BSN, Accelerated BSN, RN-to-BSN, MSN and post-master's certificates — online MSN tracks rank among U.S. News' best.
Liberal-arts-based business school offering majors in management, marketing, finance and accounting, plus a growing MBA.
Prepares K–12 teachers and administrators with a Christian-ethos approach to pedagogy, including CAEP-aligned programs.
Strong pre-med, pre-pharmacy and pre-PT advising with hands-on lab research and clinical-shadowing placements in Knoxville.
Houses the liberal arts core: English, history, music, visual arts, communication studies and religious studies.
4 years
CCNE-accredited program with early clinical placements across East Tennessee hospitals; strong NCLEX-RN pass rates and direct MSN pathways.
4 years
Small cohort, faculty-mentored research, and structured pre-med advising with shadowing opportunities at UT Medical Center.
2 years
Online MSN with FNP and leadership tracks — ranked among U.S. News' 'Best Online Master's in Nursing Programs'.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $34,700
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
