Bust university acquired by nation (6)
I believe the answer is:
statue
'bust' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'university acquired by nation' is the wordplay.
'university' becomes 'u' (abbreviation for university).
'acquired by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'nation' becomes 'state' (synonyms).
'u' put within 'state' is 'STATUE'.
(Other definitions for statue that I've seen before include "Artistic work" , "Modelled figure of a human or animal" , "Sculpture of person or animal" , "Sculpture representing a human or animal" , "Noble's rank or dignity" .)