Tansian University (TANU)

Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) is a federal university located in Awka, the capital of Anambra State, with a second major campus and teaching hospital in Nnewi. The university was established in 1991 as an offshoot of the defunct Anambra State University of Technology (ASUTECH), which had been founded in 1980 with campuses across the old Anambra State. UNIZIK was named after Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe — "Zik of Africa" — Nigeria's first President and one of the greatest pan-African nationalists of the 20th century. The university operates 15 faculties across its Awka main campus and Nnewi Medical Campus, offering a comprehensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in sciences, medicine, engineering, law, arts, agriculture, environmental sciences and management. UNIZIK is fully accredited by the NUC and is consistently ranked among the top federal universities in southeastern Nigeria.

Legacy University Okija (LUO) is a private university located in Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State. The university was licensed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2016 and offers undergraduate programmes in sciences, social sciences, management and arts. Legacy University Okija is one of the newer private universities in Anambra State and is positioned to provide accessible quality higher education to students in the Ihiala, Nnewi, Onitsha and surrounding communities of southern Anambra State. The university is fully accredited by the NUC.

Madonna University Nigeria is the first private Catholic university in West Africa and the first private university to receive full approval from the Federal Government of Nigeria. It was founded in 1999 by Very Reverend Father Professor Emmanuel Matthew Paul Edeh — a Catholic priest, philosopher and prolific author — with its original campus in Okija, Anambra State. The university has since expanded to three campuses: Okija (Anambra State — Arts, Law, Management and Social Sciences), Elele (Rivers State — Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, which became the main administrative campus in 2004), and Akpugo (Enugu State — Engineering, commissioned in 2011). The Okija campus in Anambra State remains one of the university's three NUC-recognised campuses, hosting the Faculties of Management and Social Sciences, Arts and Education, and Law. Madonna University is fully accredited by the NUC and emphasises Catholic values, moral formation and academic excellence.

Paul University is a private Christian university established in 2009 by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and located in Awka, the capital of Anambra State. Named after St. Paul the Apostle, the university is owned by the Church of Nigeria's Diocese of Awka and offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in sciences, social sciences, management, arts and environmental sciences. The university is grounded in Anglican Christian values with an emphasis on moral formation, intellectual development and community service. Paul University is fully accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), formerly known as Anambra State University (ANSU), is the premier state university of Anambra State. It was established in 2000 by the Anambra State Government and renamed in 2014 in honour of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu — the legendary Biafran leader and Ikemba Nnewi — a pan-Igbo icon. COOU operates across three campuses: Uli (main campus — Engineering, Physical Sciences, Natural Sciences), Igbariam (Arts, Law, Management Sciences, Agriculture), and Awka-Amaku (College of Medicine and Teaching Hospital). The university offers 15 faculties and comprehensive undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. COOU is fully accredited by the NUC and has undergone significant expansion under recent Anambra State Government investment, including a centralised digital platform for academic administration.