Melbourne University Private (MUP) was a private university spinoff founded by the University of Melbourne in Australia, which operated from July 1998 to 2005. It was designed as a profit making venture, independent of as much government control as possible, in an attempt to maneuver around some of the limitations of legislation governing public universities. It was the brainchild of former Vice-Chancellor Alan Gilbert. It also allowed the public university to operate a management model and mission more akin to private market-driven universities in the USA (like the University of Phoenix). MUP's main potential markets were businesspeople and students of languages and international development, both in Australia and overseas.