Charles Sturt University is the largest regional university in Australia and was founded in 1989. The university is named after Captain Charles Napier Sturt, an important figure in early Australian history. Sturt was a British explorer who sailed to New South Wales in 1827 and began exploring the area.

The university has six campuses located in New South Wales: Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga. The university also has a number of specialist campuses including Canberra, Goulburn, Manly and Parramatta. The university’s four study centres are situated in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Wangaratta.

The Wiradjuri phrase "yindyamarra winhanganha" is the ethos of Charles Sturt University. It is derived from traditional indigenous Australian knowledge and means "the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in". The university has worked towards achieving this by becoming Australia’s first certified carbon neutral university in 2016.

Charles Sturt University’s three main faculties include arts and education; business, justice and behavioural sciences, and science. The faculties operate across campuses and consist of numerous schools and centres that are designed for specific areas of study and research.

There are over 350 courses to choose from at Charles Sturt, as well as the opportunity to study online rather than on campus. As one of Australia’s top online universities, the university ensures that students have the flexibility to study when and where it best suits them.

The university's mascot has been Charlie the Cockatoo since 2018 when he was the winning design concept in a mascot competition. The cockatoo can be found across New South Wales.