Transparent Costs, Confident Students: Austin Peay’s Formula for Growth Amid Uncertainty
At Austin Peay State University (APSU), Meadow’s customized net price calculator transformed financial aid communication, giving families clarity and boosting trust. The result: an 8.2% enrollment increase heading into the 2024–2025 academic year.
By the numbers
3
minutes time to completion
8.2%
increase in enrollment for the 2024 school year
90%
of students with a guaranteed estimate enrolled in Fall 2024
It’s a recruiting tool, a compliance tool, and a communication tool all in one. Our staff are more confident, our students feel informed, and our families know we’re committed to transparency.
As a regional public university (RPU) serving more than 10,000 students, Austin Peay State University (APSU) plays a vital role in expanding access to affordable, high-quality education in Tennessee. Like many RPUs, APSU enrolls a large proportion of Pell-eligible and first-generation students—precisely the kinds of students most sensitive to college pricing. These institutions, while less likely to make national headlines, educate nearly 70% of all public four-year college students in the U.S. and drive upward mobility for their surrounding communities.
But affordability only matters if students can see it clearly. APSU needed a better way to communicate the real, personalized cost of attendance—not just during moments of disruption like the FAFSA delays, but as a reliable, ongoing resource for students and families navigating financial aid with confidence.
The challenge
Before partnering with Meadow, APSU relied on the federal template, a net price calculator (NPC) provided by the Department of Education that calculates cost of attendance based only on averages. While compliant, the tool painted an incomplete or misleading picture of the true cost of attendance. It didn’t factor in Tennessee’s robust state aid programs, like the Tennesse Hope Scholarship, Tennessee Aspire Award, Tennessee Promise, or APSU’s institutional awards and left many students—especially first-time freshmen—feeling confused or overwhelmed by the “sticker price” of college. Given the demographics of APSU’s student body as heavily first generation and Pell-eligible, inaccurate cost estimates could mean the difference between deciding to pursue a degree or not.
The situation became especially urgent during the 2024–2025 cycle, when nation-wide FAFSA delays left families waiting longer than usual to receive aid packages. For APSU’s leadership, the accuracy of their net price estimates using the Federal template was not just an operational challenge, it presented a threat to student recruitment, yield, and trust.
“We were traveling the state for admitted student events, talking to students and families who didn’t have aid packages yet. It was critical that we find a way to give them accurate, personalized financial aid estimates,” said Randi Robinson, APSU’s Executive Director of Financial Aid.
The solution
After meeting Meadow at the NASFAA Leadership and Legislative Conference in February 2024, APSU moved quickly. Working closely with Meadow, the team configured a highly customized NPC that reflected federal and state aid rules, institutional scholarships, and APSU’s cost of attendance. The result was a fast, easy-to-use, and student-friendly calculator—one that could be implemented in record time for the university’s statewide admitted student tour.
“What drew us to Meadow was its speed and customization,” Randi shared. “We had demoed calculators that could take 20 minutes per student. Meadow’s is quick, accurate, and built to reflect Tennessee’s unique aid programs. It’s a much better experience for students and families.”
The tool proved so valuable that APSU leadership allocated a quarter of a million dollars as a contingency fund to guarantee any discrepancies between calculator estimates and finalized FAFSA awards. In practice, only about 10% of that earmarked budget was needed —evidence of Meadow’s accuracy.
For Randi, the implementation was more than a work milestone; it became a defining leadership example. While pursuing her doctorate in education, she wrote about leading the Meadow calculator rollout as one of her major professional achievements—a testament to the impact the project had on the university and its position as an innovator.
With the higher education field in a state of flux and uncertainty, APSU relies on Meadow as a constant. Whether helping a walk-in family who hasn’t filed a FAFSA, or supporting counselors as they advise students under changing federal rules, Meadow Price remains central to APSU’s ability to deliver clarity and build trust with students, and it’s a partnership that the team can rely on.
The results
Meadow’s NPC has yielded measurable results for APSU:
- Enrollment growth: APSU’s enrollment rose 8.2% heading into the 2024-2025 academic year.
- Improved student confidence: First-generation and Pell-eligible students, often seeing a financial aid package for the first time, were able to understand their costs and aid earlier than at most institutions.
- Staff empowerment: APSU’s financial aid team used the calculator extensively during implementation and training, which improved staff comfort with FAFSA simplification and their ability to counsel families.
- On-demand support: Even now, with FAFSA timelines normalized, APSU uses the calculator for in-person counseling, offering accurate estimates to students who haven’t completed their FAFSA.
“It’s a recruiting tool, a compliance tool, and a communication tool all in one,” Randi said. “Our staff are more confident, our students feel informed, and our families know we’re committed to transparency.”
Why it matters for RPUs
APSU’s experience underscores why price transparency is so critical for regional public universities and why these institutions need to invest in tools they can rely on. RPUs are the backbone of public higher education, educating the majority of cost-sensitive students in the U.S. and fueling economic stability for their communities. If you don't communicate about affordability and show students the real cost, they have no way of knowing it.
WATCH: Positive student feedback
By adopting a modern, accurate net price calculator, APSU not only boosted enrollment by 8.2% heading into 2024, but also built trust with students and families navigating an already complicated financial aid landscape. For RPUs like APSU, Meadow provides more than just a calculator—it’s a consistent, reliable way to show students that higher education can be both accessible and attainable.
