Photo: Brian Stansberry (CC BY 3.0)
School data & stats
Outcomes
Cost
Community
Overview
Maryville College is a private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee, at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, founded in 1819 with Presbyterian roots. It has an early history of educating students across racial lines well before that was common in the South, and today operates as a small residential college with a close-knit academic culture.
Academics
Every Maryville student completes a senior thesis or capstone project, a defining curricular feature that pushes students toward independent research and writing before graduation. Teacher education and the sciences are particular strengths, with education graduates well represented in East Tennessee schools and science majors benefiting from close faculty mentorship and lab access uncommon at this size.
Campus & student life
The campus sits minutes from Great Smoky Mountains National Park trailheads, and outdoor recreation is a genuine part of student life rather than an occasional field trip. Athletics compete at the NCAA Division III level, and the college's small size means students in the same major see the same professors across all four years.
Getting in
Maryville reads applications holistically, with essays and demonstrated fit mattering alongside grades; its Presbyterian heritage shows up more as historical identity than as a doctrinal requirement for admission.
After graduation
Education graduates tend toward regional Tennessee schools, and science majors send a meaningful share of graduates on to graduate school or health professions, helped by a senior thesis experience that translates well into research-heavy applications.
Worth knowing
The senior thesis requirement is universal, not honors-only, so prospective students should expect a serious independent project regardless of major.
Admissions
Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)
Applying
maryvillecollege.edu ↗High school coursework
Required4 years of English · 2 or more years of one foreign language · 3 or more years of math (Algebra I and higher) · 2 or more years of lab science · 2 or more years of social science or history
Your fit, with your own numbers
With a free Dorado account, this tab fills in from your own profile and course plan:
- A chance band (Far Reach to Likely) calibrated against real admitted-student data — published test-score ranges and, where a school reports them, Common Data Set GPA profiles — with plain-English reasons.
- A fit breakdown across testing, grades, course rigor, activities, and honors, side by side with the numbers the school publishes.
- Deadline countdowns where verified application dates are on file.
Creating an account is free and takes no card — college search, list tracking, and fit are all included.
Create your free account