Yogyakarta State University is a public state university established in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 1964. The university's main campus is located in Sleman Regency. UNY was previously part of a faculty at Gadjah Mada University which eventually formed a separate institution called the Yogyakarta Teacher Training and Education Institute. UNY has also been considered one of the best teacher educational institutions in Indonesia, along with the Indonesian University of Education and the State University of Malang.

The Special Region of Yogyakarta is a province-level special region of Indonesia in southern Java. It is a semi-enclave that is surrounded by on the landward side by Central Java Province to the west, north, and east, but has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean to the south.