Austin Peay has signed a partnership with Sofia University in Bulgaria, a first for a Tennessee school. Student exchanges and a study-abroad trip are the aim.

Austin Peay State University has signed a partnership with Sofia University in Bulgaria. The university says it is the first agreement of its kind between a Tennessee university and a Bulgarian one.

APSU President Mike Licari and Sofia University Rector Eliza Stefanova signed the agreement Oct. 14 in Sofia, the university announced Nov. 5. APSU’s Institute for National Security and Military Studies led the work, with support from the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria and the Tennessee National Guard.

What the partnership could bring

APSU said it hopes the partnership will include:

  • a spring break study-abroad trip
  • semester-long exchanges for faculty and students
  • joint research projects for grants and publications
  • hosting Fulbright Scholars

The university did not give dates or costs for any of these. They are aims, not scheduled programs.

Why Bulgaria

Tennessee has been Bulgaria’s partner in the National Guard’s State Partnership Program since 1993, according to APSU. The program paired U.S. states with former Soviet-bloc countries after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Tennessee National Guard approached Austin Peay about Sofia after the university’s existing partnership with the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Belgrade in Serbia. The Sofia agreement has been in the works since February 2024, the university said.

Rich Mifsud, the institute’s director, said the deal moves the Tennessee-Bulgaria relationship “beyond a military-to-military relationship to a higher-education relationship.” He said APSU is the “first and only” Tennessee university with this approved partnership.

Mifsud said it could open the door to work outside security studies, such as science and business collaborations. “[That] can lead to agricultural improvement and investment strategies in Bulgaria from lessons learned in Tennessee,” he said.

Who signed

Licari signed for APSU. Mifsud and retired Maj. Gen. Walt Lord, APSU’s vice president of military and veterans affairs, also represented the university. H. Martin McDowell, the U.S. chargé d’affaires to Bulgaria, attended the signing, APSU said.

Lord said Sofia’s rector wants the partnership to grow beyond national security studies. “I think the prospect of that kind of evolution could be really exciting for our university, our faculty, and most importantly, our students,” he said.

What it means for you

  • APSU students: this is a new route to study abroad, but no trip or exchange has been announced yet. Watch the APSU news page for the first program.
  • Military families: Austin Peay sits next door to Fort Campbell, and the partnership grew from Tennessee’s National Guard ties to Bulgaria.
  • More from campus, including APSU events, is on our things to do this month page.