Wilkes University is a private, non-denominational American university located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It is home to more than 2,200 undergraduates and 400 graduates. Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and became an independent institution in 1940, naming itself Wilkes College, after English colonial politician John Wilkes. The school was granted university status in 1990.

The school is best known for its Nesbitt College of Pharmacy and Nursing, which is home to the only Doctor of Pharmacy program in northeastern Pennsylvania. Its Communication Studies program is also well-regarded.

Wilkes has an active student media, including a television and radio station, a newspaper (The Beacon), and a student-run public relations agency.

Wilkes has the premier Education Department in Northeastern Pennsylvania [Teacher Education Department ].

The Wilkes Graduate Teacher Education Program has classes at more than thirty sites throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The school mascot is the Colonel and the official colors are blue and yellow.