The Rajabhat Universities (มหาวิทยาลัยราชภัฏ, ) are a group of public universities in Thailand that were originally founded as teacher training colleges. In 1995, the Thai government elevated existing teacher training colleges to so-called Rajabhat Institutes. The transformation expanded the legal mandate of these institutions, granting them the authority to confer postgraduate degrees, including doctorates. Rajabhat Institutes were further transformed to Rajabhat Universities in 2005, allowing the institutions to function as independent universities. There are currently 38 Rajabhat Universities. They are generally considered easier to gain admission to than the traditional public universities. Most Rajabhat Universities offer graduate degrees, some even to the doctoral level. Enrollments have been shrinking. , students numbered 540,000, down from 600,000.

Name

The word "Rajabhat" is derived from the same origin as the Hindi, "Rajput" (from Sanskrit raja-putra, "son of a king"). In this sense, a "Rajabhat University" might be regarded as being analogous to the English "King's College", or "Royal Institute", or more literally as a "Prince's University" ("Rajabhat" could be considered to mean "prince"). For simplicity they may be considered a "Royal University".

List of Rajabhat Universities

Bangkok group

Northern group

Northeastern group

Central group

Southern group