Regional Public Universities (RPUs) serve a critical role in fostering postsecondary access, upward mobility, and regional well-being, providing support and services beyond just educational opportunities for students. However, many policymakers, researchers, and administrators misunderstand or are unaware of the contributions of RPUs, often believing stereotypes, myths, and deficit-based assumptions about the sector. This chapter introduces RPUs and describes what empirical research reveals about the characteristics of institutions in the sector, including how they express and expand their missions to address the challenges and meet the needs of students and community members. This chapter also reviews the body of research about RPUs to unpack some of the assumptions commonly made about the sector and promote a more nuanced understanding of the sector that is based in research and theory. This chapter concludes by proposing a comprehensive research agenda and accompanying research questions, theoretical frameworks, and methodological approaches to generate a nuanced understanding about RPUs and their students.