It is on a romantic hill at one end of Cu Hill (the North of Xuan Huong lake), on Phu Dong Thien Vuong street (near the flower garden) with an area of 40 hectares, the university was founded at the end of the 50s as a private university managed by the Southern Vietnamese Catholics. Formerly, this was the zone of the Youth Cades school of Asia. Before 1975, the university had a famous department called the political business which attracted students all

over the South, this department had over 1,000 students. Formerly, all buildings in the university were called by names taken from Chinese boo Hotel such as Nang Tinh (silence), Dat Nhan (becoming a man), Tri Nhat (knowledge), Minh Thanh (success)...

After 1975, the school became the general university of the zone and began to operate in 1977. The University of Dalat has various departments that satisfy the need of training workmen for the South Midlands and the Western Highlands. Students are from many parts of the country, from the North especially the old provinces of Thanh Nghe, from the costal region of the Midlands. The number of student increased each year and in 2003 there were over 13,000 students. The university has 22 fields with 10 departments.

For landscape, the University of Dalat is one of the most beautiful and the most peaceful school all over the country with a typical architecture of Dalat.