Mahatma Gandhi Central University (MGCU), is a central university located in Motihari, Bihar, India. MGCU has 7 schools and 20 academic departments.

The Central Universities (Amendment) Act, 2014 which received presidential assent on December 17, 2014, provided for the establishment of Mahatma Gandhi Central University having its territorial jurisdiction extending to the territory in the North of the River Ganges in the State of Bihar.^[1]

This is the second Central University in Bihar after the Central University of South Bihar (CUSB).

In 2017, the university terminated two assistant professors without citing any prior notice, which caused heavy protest by the students of university.^[6] In June 2018, students of the university launched heavy protest after the university increased fees.^[7] Later that month, faculty members sat on hunger strike after the university issued a show cause notice to a professor.^[8]

In August 2018, Sanjay Kumar, an assistant professor of the university, was attacked by BJP/RSS led goons for criticising Ex Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in a Facebook post.^[9] This led to the closure of the university^[10] for a 15-day period.^[11]

In October 2018, the vice-chancellor of the university, Arvind Kumar Agrawal, was accused of some anomalies in his educational qualifications.^[12] This led to his resignation a week later, and the appointment of the pro-chancellor Anil Kumar Rai for the position.^[13]