Founded June 2, 1890 as a Select Committee, the Committee to Establish a University of the United States was an initiative of the United States Senate which became a Standing Committee on March 19, 1896. During this time there was also a National University Committee outside of the Senate.

In 1897 the committee tried to pass a bill to create a University of the United States, and three years later it presented a bill to allow the Smithsonian Institution to give out degrees. Neither bill was successful. The committee was disbanded in 1921 as part of a "housecleaning" that got rid of several largely inactive or defunct committees which still officially existed.

Chairmen of the Select Committee

• George F. Edmunds (1890–1891)
• Redfield Proctor (1891–1893)
• Eppa Hunton (1893–1895)
• James Kyle (1895–1897)

Chairmen of the Standing Committee

• George L. Wellington (1897–1901)
• William Joseph Deboe (1901–1903)
• Chester Long (1903–1905)
• James A. Hemenway (1905–1909)
• Simon Guggenheim (1909–1911)
• Joseph F. Johnston (1911–1913)
• William Paul Dillingham (1913–1919)
• John Sharp Williams (1919–1921)