Marshall University is a coeducational public (public university) research university in Huntington, West Virginia founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States.

The university is composed of eight colleges and schools: the College of Liberal Arts (COLA), the College of Fine Arts (COFA), the College of Education and Human Services (COEHS), the College of Information Technology and Engineering (CITE), the Elizabeth McDowell Lewis College of Business (LCOB), the College of Science (COS), the College of Health Professions (COHP), and the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications (SOJMC). The University is also home to the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, a regional center for cancer research which has a national reputation for its programs in rural health care delivery. The prominent forensic science graduate program (Marshall University Forensic Science Graduate Program) is one of only three post-graduate-level academic programs in the United States accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and considered by many to be the best Forensic Science program in the United States.

Marshall University also operates the Robert C. Byrd Institute, with operations on both the Huntington and South Charleston campuses, as well as in Fairmont, West Virginia, and Rocket Center, West Virginia. The goal of the Institute is the transfer of technology from the academic departments to private industry to support job development in the region.