Abstract: In America， corporations are classified into aggregate corporations and sole corporations according to their staff numbers. On this basis， the legal status of public universities can be divided into government agency， public trust and constitutionally autonomous university. However， the legal status of public entrepreneurial universities remains a controversial issue. By sorting out the relationships between the American public entrepreneurial universities and the American state governments， this study finds that the American public entrepreneurial universities are autonomous universities. As to Chinas public entrepreneurial universities， on one hand， their legal status should be clarified and the administrative corporate governance structure should be established; on the other hand， the government should decentralize its administration so as to diversify the funding sources of Chinas public entrepreneurial universities.

Key words: America, public entrepreneurial university, legal status