Austin Peay State University

Austin Peay State University

Motto	Be a Gov!
Type	Public
Established	1927
Endowment	$22 million
President	Alisa White
Academic staff	550
Administrative staff	629
Undergraduates	9,835
Postgraduates	888
Location	Clarksville, Tennessee, U.S.
Campus	Urban, 160 acres (0.8 km²)
Colors	Red and White
Mascot	Governors
Website	www.apsu.edu

Austin Peay State University /ˈɔːstən pi/ is a four-year public university located in Clarksville, Tennessee, and operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. The University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and is the fastest-growing university in Tennessee.

Clarksville Masonic Lodge No. 89 sponsored the Montgomery County Male Academy. In 1845, the Masonic College was founded, and in 1848, the Montgomery County Male Academy merged with the Masonic College, taking the name of Montgomery Masonic College and Male Academy. This institution continued through 1855 when it was given to the Presbyterian Synod of Nashville to be operated by them as a male college and academy. The Presbyterians changed the name of the college to Stewart College, and later the name was changed again to Southwestern Presbyterian University. In 1925 Southwestern moved to Memphis, Tennessee. In 1945 it became "Southwestern at Memphis"; it was renamed Rhodes College in 1984. This was the forerunner of Austin Peay Normal School and located where Austin Peay State University now exists. The site on which the current university is situated has held some type of an institution of higher learning longer than any in Tennessee west of Knoxville.

The university began as Austin Peay Normal School when it was created as a two-year junior college and teacher-training institution by Act of the General Assembly of 1927 and named in honor of sitting Governor Austin Peay. Limited in purposes and resources, the school gradually grew in stature over the years to take its place among the colleges and universities under the control of the State Board of Education.