Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer who made expeditions into regional New South Wales and South Australia.
Charles Sturt offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and higher degrees by research and single-subject study. It also has course delivery partnerships with several TAFE institutions across Australia, including with the New South Wales Police Force.
The history of Charles Sturt University dates to 1895, with the establishment of the Bathurst Experiment Farm. The university was established on 1 July 1989 from the merger of several existing separately-administered Colleges of Advanced Education by The Charles Sturt University Act 1989 (Act No. 76, 1989).
The constituent colleges included the Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst, the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education in Albury-Wodonga and the Riverina College of Advanced Education in Wagga Wagga.
On 1 January 1970, the Mitchell College of Advanced Education was formed. The Riverina Murray Institute of Education campus in Wagga Wagga and Albury-Wodonga had operated since 1984. The latter institution had earlier succeeded the Riverina College of Advanced Education, which was itself the result of an even earlier merger between Wagga Agricultural College and the Wagga Wagga Teachers College.
Charles Sturt established a Study Centre in Sydney in 1998 and in Melbourne in 2007. These study centres were operated by a private education group called Study Group Australia. On December 31, 2022, Charles Sturt let its relationship with Study Group Australia expire. According to Charles Sturt's website, the Brisbane Study Centre is closed, and courses at the Sydney and Melbourne locations are in teach-out mode.
The Goulburn campus was established to deliver policing education to New South Wales Police.
In 1999, the Dubbo campus foundation stone was laid.