Golden Gate University is a private non-profit university founded in 1901 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is the fifth-largest private university in California.

The university evolved out of the literary reading groups of the San Francisco Central YMCA. The YMCA Evening College was formally established in 1896 and became an independent operation in 1901 with the creation of the parallel YMCA Evening School of Law. A contest in 1910 resulted in the adoption of the new name 'Golden Gate.' The institution was separately incorporated from the Central YMCA in 1923 as Golden Gate College. The College continued to share quarters with the YMCA, however, until 1966, when it moved to 536 Mission Street. In 1972, the College expanded and was elevated to university status.