Named for Clarksville native and former Tennessee Gov. Austin Peay, Austin Peay State University was established in 1927 with 158 students enrolled the first term.
In fall 2009, for the first time in the university's history, the student enrollment reached five digits — 10,188. Since spring 2005, APSU has observed an increase of more than 1,300 students over the five-year period, making it one of Tennessee's fastest-growing public universities. APSU is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system.
APSU is under the leadership of President Timothy L. Hall, who assumed the administrative helm in 2007. Prior to APSU, Hall was associate provost and associate vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, for five years.
The university is one of the region's key economic engines, with an annual financial impact of nearly $190 million. APSU provides 753 full-time jobs, spends about $37 million in payroll and is responsible for about 1,800 additional jobs in various contracts.
APSU is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Academic programs
APSU offers numerous online courses and 12 online degree programs. It confers the academic degree credentials of Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Science in Professional Studies. On the graduate level, nine degree credentials are conferred - Education Specialist, Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Music, Master of Professional Studies, Master of Science, Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Social Work. A noncredit Extended Education program also is offered.
APSU has an accelerated bachelor's in professional studies, allowing students with an Associate of Applied Science degree to complete a bachelor's degree in 14 months.
Minors in real estate, Asian studies, geographic information systems, dance and global security studies also are available.
Updates
On Aug. 11, APSU opened Castle Heights, a $25.5 million student residence hall. The 416-bed facility features two identical buildings joined by common spaces at an elbow. The ground floor includes lounges, meeting and game rooms, a convenience store and coffee bar, a copy center and a laundry area.
Beginning fall 2011, APSU will offer classes and degree programs at the new Highland Crest Campus in Springfield. APSU is sharing the facility with Volunteer State Community College. APSU is offering bachelor's degree programs in professional studies and criminal justice/homeland security at Highland Crest. Courses are on an eight-week term schedule. Highland Crest, located off William Batson Parkway one mile south of NorthCrest Medical Center, was the result of a referendum in 2009 in which voters approved the construction of Robertson County's first higher education facility.
APSU opened the new Hemlock Semiconductor Building during the fall 2010 semester. The facility, at College and Eighth streets, houses the chemical engineering technology associate degree program and laboratory. The building is named in honor of Michigan-based Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. for its $2 million gift to APSU for the purchase of laboratory equipment for the building. The contribution is one of the largest monetary gifts ever given to APSU. APSU was previously awarded a $6.4 million grant from the state of Tennessee to develop the chemical engineering technology program, following the December 2008 announcement that HSC would build a production facility in Clarksville.
In addition, APSU opened the new Honors Commons, an 8,000-square-foot space in the heart of campus that houses both the University's Honors Program and the President's Emerging Leaders Program. The renovated building is next to the Morgan University Center and the Ann Ross Bookstore. The space includes classrooms dedicated to honors classes, a quiet study area and a music practice room.
Costs and features
Students at APSU are charged tuition based on the number of credit-hours they are enrolled. Students attending the main campus, the Renaissance Center in Dickson and/or the Austin Peay Center @ Fort Campbell are charged for each credit-hour taken. Students who reside in the Kentucky counties of Allen, Calloway, Christian, Logan, Simpson, Todd and Trigg qualify for in-state tuition. For active duty military personnel stationed outside Tennessee, APSU offers out-of-state waivers for both graduate and undergraduate programs. APSU offers the eRate fee structure for out-of-state students attending online courses exclusively through the institution. Instead of paying out-of-state tuition rates, which are roughly three times APSU's in-state rates, eRate recipients pay 1.5 times the in-state rate.
Two Centers of Excellence are located at APSU. The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts offers students experiences in music, theater, creative writing and visual art. The Center of Excellence for Field Biology brings together scholars and students for research on topics in field biology and ecology.
The state's first Hispanic Cultural Center in APSU's Morgan University Center helps to accommodate the university's fast-growing Hispanic enrollment. In 1991, APSU founded the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center. In 2010, the University opened the Military Student Center, located in the Morgan University Center.
— Jimmy Settle
