Centro Escolar University also referred to by its acronym CEU is a private, non-sectarian, coeducational institution of higher education located in Manila, Philippines. Established in 1907 by Librada Avelino and Carmen de Luna, it is one of the oldest modern higher education institutions in the Philippines. CEU has six campuses: the main campus in San Miguel, Manila; the Malolos campus; the Las Piñas campus; the Cebu campus; and the Makati campuses. The university offers more than fifty higher education programs and engages in research in various fields.

Librada Avelino was a Filipina educator who co-founded the Centro Escolar University. She was the first woman to earn a teaching certificate from the Spanish authorities when she passed her examination in 1889. Continuing her education, Avelino was also certified as a secondary teacher in 1893. After establishing her own girls' school in Pandacan, she was forced to flee to Manila when in 1896, the Philippine Revolution brought troops to Pandacan. Reopening a school in the capital, she operated until the Spain ceded the country to the United States and the educational authorities changed the requirements, implementing English language curricula. To learn English, she agreed to take a post as principal of the Pandacan Girls' School, believing that teaching the language would help her learn it faster. She also took English classes and studied English briefly in Hong Kong in 1901.