A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highest institutional level in education, differing in meaning from a "federally-chartered university." Globally, some national universities are associated with national cultural or political aspirations. For example, the National University of Ireland during the early days of Irish independence collected a large amount of information about the Irish language and Irish culture. In Argentina, the national universities are the result of the 1918 Argentine university reform and subsequent reforms, which were intended to provide a secular university system without direct clerical or government influence by bestowing self-government on the institutions.

List of national universities

Albania

Argentina

Australia

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brazil

Brunei

Cambodia

Canada

Chile

China

39 Universities in Project 985/Project 211/Double First Class

Colombia

Costa Rica

Ecuador

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)

Fiji (Formerly Fiji Islands)

Greece

Guatemala

Guyana

Iceland

India

Institutes of National Importance (91 institutes)

Central Universities of India

Indonesia

Iran

Ireland

Israel

Japan

Kazakhstan

Latvia

Lithuania

Lesotho

Malaysia

Mexico

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nepal

Pakistan

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Samoa

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Switzerland

Taiwan

Among dozens of public universities, including six research universities:

Thailand

Tonga

Ukraine

United States

In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highest institutional level in education, differing in meaning from a "federally-chartered university." In the US, "national university" denotes regionally-outstanding institutions with at least a national admissions strategy, receipt of largescale grants, international research activity, endowments above $350 million, and regional excellence with respective prestige. Some prominent American public national universities include UVA, UF, and Indiana; while some prominent American private national universities include Penn, WUSTL, Cornell, and MIT. The concept of national American universities arguably has its origins in the birth of the Association of American Universities, however this association does not encapsulate all national universities in the United States. Some of the US's federally-chartered places of higher education include:

Uruguay

Vanuatu

Vietnam