state university
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of state university
An Americanism dating back to 1825–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Johns Hopkins offered $16,000 more, making the cost less than that of a state university in New York, where the family lives.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026
These buyouts are absurd, an outgrowth of a crazed marketplace and undeniably screwy optics at a state university.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025
George Mason, with more than 40,000 students, is the most racially diverse public research university in the state, university officials say.
From Salon • Jul. 14, 2025
They could then transfer those credits to their state university, and the cost of college could be cut in half.
From Slate • Apr. 29, 2024
“I wanted to go to the state university but we couldn’t afford it. My father had to send me to a small denominational college.”
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
