U.S. News and World Report has ranked APSU as 29 in the Top Public Schools in the south list and 79 in its Top Regional Universities in the South list. APSU garnered an overall score of 44 out of 100.

The top southern universities in the Top Regional Universities list were Elon University (first), Samford University (fourth) and Belmont University (sixth).

The U.S. News and World Report website has ranked the schools based on high school GPA, test scores, diversity, activities, sports, gender distribution and whether the school is public or private.

APSU tied for 29th place with Eastern Kentucky University and tied for 79th place with Eastern Kentucky University and Thomas More College.

The top three schools in the Top National Universities list (in order) are Princeton University, Harvard University and the University of Chicago.