Universities and Colleges in Nashville, TN

Nashville, Tennessee, known as the Athens of the South, is one of the foremost educational centers in the Southeastern United States.

Located in the middle of Tennessee, which is conveniently situated in the eastern section of the United States, Nashville is host to some of the nation's best known institutes of higher learning.

• Vanderbilt University is Nashville's largest university, enrolling over 11,000 students. Established in 1873 on its current campus (also an arboretum), some of Vanderbilt University's original buildings are still in service today. The Peabody section of the campus is home to the Arthur J. Dyer Observatory, and has been registered as a National Historic Landmark, since 1966.
• American Baptist College (also known as American Baptist Theological Seminary) is a small, predominantly African-American liberal arts college, founded in 1924. Principally designed to train African-American Baptist ministers, its student body was highly influential in the civil rights movement.
• Aquinas College -- a Roman Catholic institution of higher learning, named in honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Founded in 1951, Aquinas was a junior college, for many years. In recent years, some four-year programs have been added, notably in nursing and business. It is part of the Dominican Campus, located approximately five miles west of downtown Nashville.
• Belmont University is a private, Christian coeducational university. It is the largest Christian university in the state, and the second largest private university in Tennessee. The school is best known for its music business program, though it boasts a wide variety of additional majors. Among its various colleges, Belmont is proud of its Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business, the only college of entertainment & music business in the world. Among the university’s other innovative programs is its New Century Journalism program and commercial music program.
• Fisk University is an historically black college. It was named in honor of General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen's Bureau, and opened its doors in 1866. In 1947, Fisk welcomed its first African American president, Charles Spurgeon Johnson, who had been the editor of Opportunity magazine, a noted periodical of the Harlem Renaissance. Fisk University features the world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers, originally a group of traveling students who set out from Nashville to raise sufficient funds to build the first permanent structure in the country solely built for the education of newly-freed slaves -- the renowned Jubilee Hall.
• Lipscomb University is a Church of Christ-affiliated university. Founded in 1891 by David Lipscomb, the original name was the Nashville Bible School. Since the school's inception, all full-time students were required to take daily Bible classes and to attend daily chapel services. Lipscomb University has built a reputation as a Christian liberal arts institution.
• Meharry Medical College originated in 1876 as the medical division of Central Tennessee College, an institution established by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Meharry is the largest private, historically black institution for educating medical professionals in the country. Meharry's dental and pharmaceutical departments were organized in 1886 and 1889, respectively. In 1910, the School of Nursing of Mercy Hospital was transferred to Meharry. The Hubbard Hospital was built in 1917. Meharry Medical College includes the School of Medicine, the School of Dentistry, the School of Graduate Studies and Research, the School of Allied Health Professions, the George Russell Towers of Hubbard Hospital, two health centers, and the Harold D. West Basic Sciences Center.
• Tennessee State University -- a comprehensive, urban, coeducational land-grant university founded in 1912. The Avon Williams campus is located downtown, near the center of the Nashville business and government district, with over 8700 students and a faculty/student ratio of 17:1. This university awards 42 baccalaureate degrees, 21 masters degrees, the two-year Associate of Science degree in nursing and dental hygiene, and doctoral degrees in public administration, administration and supervision, curriculum and instruction and psychology. While preserving the rich heritage and tradition as an historically black college, Tennessee State promotes diversity and access without regard to race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.
• Trevecca Nazarene University is a liberal arts university, founded in 1901 by J. O. McClurkan. Originally named the Literary and Bible Training School for Christian Workers, the school's name was changed to Trevecca College in 1911. Originally located in historical downtown Nashville, the school’s campus was moved to East Nashville on Gallatin Road, in 1914. In 1935, the college was moved to its present location on Murfreesboro Road in southeast Nashville. An official college of the Church of the Nazarene since 1917, the school's name was changed to Trevecca Nazarene University, in 1995. Trevecca has been accredited since 1969, offering master's degrees since 1984 and doctorate degrees since 2000.

Other fine Nashville institutions of higher learning include:

• Nashville School of Law
• Free Will Baptist Bible College
• Gupton College
• Nashville State Community College
• Strayer University
• University of Phoenix
• Draughons Junior College
• Watkins College of Art and Design
• Nashville Auto Diesel College