Sul Ross State University (SRSU) is a public university in Alpine, Texas, United States. Named for former Texas governor, Civil War general Lawrence Sullivan Ross, it was founded in 1917 as Sul Ross Normal College and was made a university in 1969.

Sul Ross State University offers certificate programs and associate, bachelor's and master's degrees. The main campus is situated in the unique environment of the Big Bend region and is the primary institution of higher education serving a 19-county area in far West Texas. SRSU has branch campuses in Uvalde, Del Rio and Eagle Pass.

The university is governed by the Board of Regents of the Texas State University System, which guides seven universities in the state.

The university is named in honor of Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross, the son of a pioneer Texas family who went on to become a Texas Ranger, a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, the 19th Governor of Texas (USA), and a president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now called Texas A&M University.

A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, or a similar entity such as the District of Columbia. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. Each state supports at least one such system.

Federal funded colleges and universities are limited to military personnel and government employees. Members of foreign militaries and governments also attend some schools. These schools include the United States military academies, Naval Postgraduate School, and military staff colleges.

A state university system normally means a single legal entity and administration, but may consist of several institutions, each with its own identity as a university. Some states—such as California and Texas—support more than one such system.

State universities get subsidies from their states. The amount of the subsidy varies from university to university and state to state, but the effect is to lower tuition costs below that of private universities. As more and more Americans attend college, and private tuition rates increase well beyond the rate of inflation, admission to state universities is becoming more and more competitive.