“A Seventh-day Adventist residential university in the Smoky Mountain foothills, anchored in faith, health, and service.”
Southern Adventist University is a private, residential Seventh-day Adventist university about 18 miles east of downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded in 1892 as Graysville Academy and renamed Southern Adventist University in 1996, the school now enrolls roughly 3,000 undergraduates and 350 graduate students drawn from 49 states and 35 countries. Its 1,300-acre campus in Collegedale sits in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains and includes nearly 40 miles of hiking and biking trails, a campus cave, and the Goliath Wall climbing area, giving Southern an outdoorsy, nature-immersed identity that is unusual among regional universities of its size. Faith and lifestyle are inseparable from the academic experience. As a Seventh-day Adventist institution, Southern observes the Saturday Sabbath: the dining hall, Village Market grocery, and most campus services close from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday for worship, vespers, and rest. All five on-campus eateries serve a fully vegetarian menu (with vegan and gluten-free options), the campus is alcohol-, tobacco-, and drug-free, and single students under 23 are required to live in the residence halls (Talge for men, Thatcher for women). Weekly chapel, peer-led LifeGroup Bible studies, and the SonRise Resurrection Pageant are central to community life. Prospective international students should weigh these expectations seriously: Southern's culture is built around shared Adventist practice, not optional religious programming. Academically, Southern is best known for nursing and computing. Its School of Nursing offers fully ACEN-accredited AS, BSN, RN-to-BSN, MSN, and DNP tracks served by a new high-fidelity Simulation Center, and its Bachelor of Science in Computer Science was the first computer-science program in Adventist higher education to earn ABET Computing Accreditation Commission accreditation, with a five-year combined BS/MS pathway and graduate certificates in Cybersecurity and Web Development. Theology, business, education, and the health professions round out a portfolio of 75 baccalaureate majors and 11 graduate programs, taught with a 16:1 student-to-faculty ratio in classes that 82% of the time enroll fewer than 30.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Regional Universities South
US News Best Colleges 2026
Campus Ethnic Diversity — Regional Universities South
US News Best Colleges 2026
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceInternational — Fall Acceptance
Acceptance decision deadline for fall semester intl applicants
International — Fall Financial Declaration
Declaration of Finances must be on file
International — Fall Deposit
$3,000 international commitment deposit due before I-20 issued
International — Fall I-20 Issuance
Final I-20 issuance cutoff for fall start
International — Winter Acceptance
Acceptance deadline for January start
Freshman Priority (Domestic)
Priority deadline for fall scholarships
Scholarship Application
Competitive scholarship application deadline
Rolling Admission
Applications accepted year-round outside of priority deadlines
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$29,124
/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.
ACEN-accredited from AS through DNP, with a new Simulation Center featuring high-fidelity manikins and a 68-station Learning Resource Center. One of the largest and most established programs on campus.
Home to the first ABET Computing Accreditation Commission-accredited Computer Science program in Adventist higher education. Combined BS/MS pathway, graduate certificates in Cybersecurity and Web Development, and a strong paid-internship pipeline.
Trains pastors, chaplains, and religion teachers for the Seventh-day Adventist Church and beyond. Strong in biblical languages, archaeology, and pastoral ministry.
AACSB-aligned business curriculum offering accounting, finance, management, marketing, and an MBA. Emphasizes ethical business practice grounded in the Adventist value tradition.
Prepares K-12 teachers (including a strong outdoor-education emphasis), counselors, and clinical mental-health professionals. Offers Master of Social Work and Education degrees.
Combines fine art, animation, graphic design, and film production with Christian creative-vocation training in a project-based studio environment.
4 years
ACEN-accredited four-year nursing degree built around hospital clinicals at CHI Memorial, Erlanger, and Parkridge in nearby Chattanooga, plus simulation training in Southern's new high-fidelity sim center. Strong NCLEX pass rates and a Christian whole-person care framework make it Southern's flagship program.
4 years
The first Computer Science program in Adventist higher education to earn ABET Computing Accreditation Commission accreditation. Software-development focus with options in robotics, embedded systems, and cybersecurity, plus a five-year BS/MS pathway that saves a year of tuition.
3 years
Practice-focused doctorate with Family Nurse Practitioner, Acute Care, and other specialist tracks, designed for working RNs and BSN graduates moving toward advanced practice.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $27,300
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.
