The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a large public university system in the United States. It is the tenth-largest university system in the United States and 43rd largest in the world. The system comprises 14 state-owned schools, all of which are NCAA Division II members by virtue of being members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. PASSHE institutions are the only colleges and universities in Pennsylvania that are publicly owned and governed, but they are not the only ones that receive public funding. To this point, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education should not be confused with The Pennsylvania State University (established 1855, the state's Land Grant University and principal four-year research university) or Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System of Higher Education. The Normal School Act of 1857 was passed on the last day of session on 20 May 1857. Its passage created 12 normal school districts in the state in which to establish private corporations answerable to the State Superintendent of Common Schools.