CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – For many years, Austin Peay State University has proudly held the title of the second-most affordable university in the state of Tennessee. While that still holds true, on Friday morning, the APSU Board of Trustees approved a 5% increase in undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees.

According to APSU spokesman, Brian Dunn, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission comes up with a range of tuition recommendations every fall. In March, THEC finalized their recommendation for a maximum of a 6.5% tuition increase to enhance student experiences, address rising salaries, as well as contractual costs of the university. However, APSU settled on 5%.

“Raising tuition and fees is always a concern for us,” said APSU President Michael Licari. “Because we don’t want to raise the cost of education at Austin Peay too high and accidentally begin to price out our students.”

Why the increase?

According to the discussion during the board meeting, European tariffs and the rising inflation spurred the THEC into recommending the increase. But how will students see this increase to their tuition impact their campus?

APSU spokesperson Hannah Eden told Clarksville Now that APSU will see a host of improvements that will not only enhance student experience but address the rising salaries of APSU staff members and contractual costs of the university.

“Those increases will be used to hire more staff, technology upgrades, implement AI technologies, attract and maintain quality health services staff, a growth in athletics staff for student mental health, and keep up with rising costs of operations and inflation,” Eden said.

While tuition and mandatory fees for the 2025-26 school year will see an increase, the Board of Trustees pointed out that housing costs will not be affected.

58% graduated debt-free

Board member Dr. Phil Roe said that Austin Peay has always tried to be very frugal with their money to keep tuition and fees as low as possible.

“If you look at any of the 4-year colleges in this state…this is the second lowest of any university or college in the state of Tennessee,” Roe said. “So, it is a huge bargain.”

Roe explained that graduating from Austin Peay 58 years ago was one of the best investments he made in his life. He then compared tuition at Austin Peay to Vanderbilt, where it’s $76,000 per year, while comparing his alma mater to other public institutions such as Tennessee State and Samford University.

Roe pointed out an exceptional accomplishment that President Licari made back in December 2024, by introducing a tuition-free program for students whose household income was less than $75,000 a year. Last May, 58% of APSU students graduated debt-free.

“I wish we didn’t go up a nickel, that would be my wish, but I still think we are getting tremendous value,” he said.

Unanimously approved

As discussion came to an end, the Board of Trustees took it to a vote.

They unanimously approved the proposal, solidifying the 5% increase to undergraduate tuition, before conducting another vote for non-mandatory fees.

The non-mandatory fees that saw an increase, according to the Business and Finance Committee agenda, includes the following:

  • Graduate Student Success and Access Fee, raising the zero-dollar existing fee to $5 per credit hour.
  • Computer Science Equipment and Technology Fee, raising the $5 existing fee to $20 per credit hour.
  • Engineering Technology Equipment and Technology Fee, raising the $5 existing fee to $10 per credit hour.