The university began as a University College affiliated to the oldest university in Nigeria in 1975 under the leadership of the then principal, Dr T.N. Tamuno. The first set of 200 students, selected following an entrance examination, were admitted into residence on 23 October 1976, while academic work started on 25 October after the Principal’s address. The University College started with three academic faculties of Arts, Science and Education.
In October 1977, the institution attained full autonomous status with appointment of the then Principal, Professor O.O Akinkugbe as first vice chancellor. The immediate past vice chancellor, Professor [Is-haq Oloyede] is the first Unilorin alumnus to occupy that position. The staff and student populations now stand at 3,040 and 20,084 respectively.
LIST OF UNILORIN COURSES OFFERED
| S/N | COURSES OFFERED |
| 1. | ACCOUNTING |
| 2. | ADULT EDUCATION |
| 3. | AGRICULTURAL & BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING |
| 4. | AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE & EDUCATION |
| 5. | AGRICULTURE |
| 6. | ANATOMY |
| 7. | APPLIED GEOPHYSICS |
| 8. | ARABIC STUDIES |
| 9. | ARCHITECTURE |
| 10. | B.A. (ED.) SOCIAL STUDIES/B.SC. (ED.) SOCIAL STUDIES |
| 11. | BIOCHEMISTRY |
| 12. | BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING |
| 13. | BUILDING TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION |
| 14. | BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION |
| 15. | BUSINESS EDUCATION |
| 16. | CHEMICAL ENGINEERING |
| 17. | CHEMISTRY |
| 18. | CIVIL ENGINEERING |
| 19. | COMMON & ISLAMIC LAW |
| 20. | COMMON LAW |
| 21. | COMPARATIVE RELIGIOUS STUDIES |
| 22. | COMPUTER ENGINEERING |
| 23. | COMPUTER SCIENCE |
| 24. | CRIMINOLOGY & SECURITY STUDIES |
| 25. | DOCTOR OF PHARMACY |
| 26. | ECONOMICS |
| 27. | EDUCATION & ARABIC |
| 28. | EDUCATION & BIOLOGY |
| 29. | EDUCATION & CHEMISTRY |
| 30. | EDUCATION & CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES |
| 31. | EDUCATION & COMPUTER SCIENCE |
| 32. | EDUCATION & ECONOMICS |
| 33. | EDUCATION & ENGLISH LANGUAGE |
| 34. | EDUCATION & FRENCH |
| 35. | EDUCATION & GEOGRAPHY |
| 36. | EDUCATION & HISTORY |
| 37. | EDUCATION & ISLAMIC STUDIES |
| 38. | EDUCATION & MATHEMATICS |
| 39. | EDUCATION & PHYSICS |
| 40. | EDUCATION & YORUBA |
| 41. | EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT |
| 42. | EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY / INTRODUCTORY TECH |
| 43. | ELECTRICAL /ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING |
| 44. | ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONICS EDUCATION |
| 45. | ENGLISH LANGUAGE |
| 46 | ESTATE MANAGEMENT |
| 47. | FINANCE |
| 48. | FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE |
| 49. | FOOD ENGINEERING |
| 50. | FOOD SCIENCE |
| 51. | FORESTRY & WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT |
| 52. | FRENCH |
| 53. | GEOGRAPHY & ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT |
| 54. | GEOLOGY |
| 55. | HAUSA |
| 56. | HEALTH EDUCATION |
| 57. | HISTORY & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES |
| 58. | HOME ECONOMICS |
| 59. | HUMAN KINETICS |
| 60. | IGBO |
| 61. | INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY |
| 62. | INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT |
| 63. | INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION SCIENCE |
| 64. | ISLAMIC STUDIES |
| 65. | LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE |
| 66. | LINGUISTICS |
| 67. | MARKETING |
| 68. | MASS COMMUNICATION |
| 69. | MATHEMATICS |
| 70. | MECHANICAL ENGINEERING |
| 71. | MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE |
| 72. | MEDICINE & SURGERY |
| 73. | METAL WORK TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION |
| 74. | METALLURGICAL & MATERIALS ENGINEERING |
| 75. | MICROBIOLOGY |
| 76. | NURSING/NURSING SCIENCE |
| 77. | OPTOMETRY |
| 78. | PERFORMING ARTS |
| 79. | PHYSICS |
| 80. | PHYSIOLOGY |
| 81. | PHYSIOTHERAPY |
| 82. | PLANT BIOLOGY |
| 83. | POLITICAL SCIENCE |
| 84. | PRIMARY EDUCATION STUDIES |
| 85. | PSYCHOLOGY |
| 86. | PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION |
| 87. | QUANTITY SURVEYING |
| 88. | SOCIAL WORK |
| 89. | SOCIOLOGY |
| 90. | STATISTICS |
| 91. | SURVEYING & GEOINFORMATICS |
| 92. | SURVEYING AND GEOINFORMATICS |
| 93. | TEACHER EDUCATION SCIENCE |
| 94. | TECHNICAL EDUCATION |
| 95. | TELECOMMUNICATION SCIENCE |
| 96. | URBAN & REGIONAL PLANNING |
| 97. | VETERINARY MEDICINE |
| 98. | WATER RESOURCES & ENVIROMENTAL ENGINEERING |
| 99. | WOODWORK TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION |
| 100. | YORUBA |
| 101. | ZOOLOGY |
