Universities in Papua New Guinea are regarded as the highest educational institutions in the country and their operations are governed by the PNG Government through the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science & Technology or DHERST for short. DHERST is also responsible for the implementing all PNG’s government’s policy directives and implementation for all tertiary institutions in then country that includes the technical colleges, teachers colleges, nursing colleges and etc. All DHERST registered tertiary institutions are categorized into two broad categories. Universities and Non-Universities and then they are sub categorized according to the institutional ownership status as follows:
- State-Fully funded and operated as state institutions by the PNG Government
- Agency/Private-Those that are operated by religious, non-governmental (NGO) and etc.
- Private-Privately operated
State Run Universities in PNG
 | University of Papua New Guinea |
|---|---|
| Website | www.upng.ac.pg |
| Location | Port Moresby, in the capital city of Port Moresby. |
| Comments | Offers programs in Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, Law, Business, Arts and Humanities. UPNG is only university in the program that offers Law Programs. |
| Access | Port Moresby, the capital is landlocked and is only accessible by air. All provincial town airports have direct flights to and from Port Moresby. |
 | University of Goroka |
|---|---|
| Website | http://www.unigoroka.ac.pg |
| Location | Goroka: The provincial town of Eastern Highlands Province in the interior highlands of the PNG mainland. |
| Comments | Started as a Teachers College and later became a university. As such, it speacializes in Education related programs such as Education Management, Primary and Secondary Teaching and etc |
| Access | All flights into Goroka is through Goroka Airport in the heart of town. The Okuk Highlands national highway connects to Lae and all highlands provinces. |
 | PNG University of Technology (PNGUNITECH) |
|---|---|
| Website | http://www.unitech.ac.pg |
| Location | Lae City-The provincial town of Morobe Province. Lae is 2 largest industrial city in PNG. |
| Comments | Offers programs in Engineering fields such as Mechanical, Civil, Electrical and Mining. Business, computer science, Architecture, Forestry, Food Technology, Agriculture, Communications for Development. PNGUnitech is the only institution in the country that has Architecture program at university level. |
| Access | Access from New Guinea Islands, Momase, and Southern region is by plane via Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby to Nazab Airport in Lae. Lae is connected from the main interior highlands region with the country's biggest highway, the Okuk Highlands national highway. Public PMvs run from each provincial towns to Lae. |
 | Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment (PNGURNE) |
|---|---|
| Website | http://www.unre.ac.pg |
| Location | Rabaul Town: Provincial town of the East New Britain (ENB) province in the New Guinea Islands region in PNG |
| Comments | Specializes in Natural Resources Management programs such as Fisheries, Agriculture, Marine Life, Horticulture and etc. |
| Access | Access from the rest of PNG Mainland is by plane only. Main transit route is via Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby in the capital to Tokua Airport in Rabaul. |
 | Western Pacific University |
|---|---|
| Website | http://wpu.ac.pg |
| Location | Ialibu Town: District town of the Ialibu Pangia District in the Southern Highlands Province (SHP) in the mainland highlands of PNG. |
| Comments | Newly established University and expected to offer programs starting in 2020 onwards. |
| Access | No direct flights into the Ialibu town. Nearest airports are Kakamunga Airport in Hagen, Western Highlands Province and Mendi Airport in the SHP capital town. Ialibu town is located in between Western Highlands province and Mendi town so access is by road from both towns. |
Check this list for Agent/Private run universitities in PNG.
International Students.
There is no direct international flights to and from the provincial airports in Papua New Guinea. All international flights are through the country’s main Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby. From Jacksons Airport, passengers then transit to provincial airports.
Air Niugini, the national airline carrier and PNG Air, are the main airline operators in the country have direct local flights to all major provincial airports. Their also operate limited flights between provinces, so its good to confirm with the airline on their website or ticketing agent office. All inter provincial flights transit through Jacksons Airport.