Southern Leyte State University is a public university situated in Southern Leyte, Philippines. It is mandated to provide advanced education, higher technological, professional instruction and training in trade, fishery, agriculture, forestry, science, education, commerce, engineering and related courses. It is also mandated to undertake research and extension services, and provided progressive leadership in its areas of specialization. Formerly the Southern Leyte State College of Science and Technology and Tomas Oppus Normal College, SLSU was created through the passage of Republic Act 9261 on March 7, 2004.

Southern Leyte, officially the Province of Southern Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Maasin. Southern Leyte comprised the third congressional district Leyte until it was made into an independent province in 1959. Southern Leyte includes Limasawa, an island to the south where the first Roman Catholic Mass in Philippine soil is believed to have taken place and thus considered to be the birthplace of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.