Abstract: Rule of law should be a priority in the governance of public universities. Public interest is viewed as the most important attribute in the autonomy of university governance, which should be systematized and codified on the principle of public service in near future. The provision of high education service could be supervised by public-interest administrative litigation. To make up the functional deficiency of university as a civil legal entity, it's necessary to speed up the system construction of public legal entities for public universi-ties. The informal transfer of governance center of the multi-disciplinary university to its faculties undermines the existing legal liability system and it is imperative to limit or eliminate the administrative functions of those faculties as soon as possible. Rights of university teachers with the connotation of public interest should be protected by the social law and administrative law by surmounting the limitation of affiliation to the unit of uni-versity.

Key words: public university, public education service, rule of law, governance structure, protection of university teacher's rights