The Autonomous University of Nayarit (in Spanish: Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, UAN) is a Mexican public university based in the city of Tepic, Nayarit, that offers secondary education in addition to undergraduate and graduate education. The university offers 15 preparatory schools located across the major regions of the state. The university offers 33 undergraduate degrees and 28 postgraduate degrees. Enrollment at the university level has been rising since 1996.
The university was founded in 1969 by Dr. Julian Gascon Mercado, then governor of the state of Nayarit, through the City Patronage of Culture “Amado Nervo” and decree No. 5162.The founding of the university was made possible through a series of decrees dating back to 1925 by governors Felipe C. Rios and Ricardo Velarde which established a School of Jurisprudence and a Senior High School. By 1955, the School of Jurisprudence was combined with the Institute of the State, founded in 1930, to form the first antecedent to the University of Nayarit. The school continued to expand through the addition of the Normal School in 1958 and the School of Nursing in 1959.