Sardar Patel University (SPU) is a university in Gujarat, India. It is named after Vallabhbhai Patel, and was founded in December 1955 by an Act of the Legislative Assembly of the then-Bombay Province and was UGC recognized under 2(f) of the UGC Act in October 1968. Originally it had the status of a rural university but now it has diversified with the motto of "Excellence Matters".