Located in the eastern part of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) – Vietnam's most developed urban area, VNUHCM was established by the Vietnamese government in 1995 with the mission of being the leading and core institution of the Vietnamese higher education system.

VNUHCM is the largest university system in Vietnam, comprising 09 member universities and research institutes (University of Technology, University of Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, International University, University of Information Technology, University of Economics and Law, 1 An Giang University, University 2 of Science and Health, Institute of Environment and Resources), with approximately 6.400 staff, employees, and workers (including about 1,600 PhDs, 360 professors and associate professors) and nearly 100,000 full-time undergraduate students, 9.000 graduate students and doctoral candidates.

VNUHCM currently leads the country in the number of international publications (more than 2.500 articles per year); in the number of internationally accredited programs (151 programs); is among the top 200 leading universities in Asia and has 08 training disciplines ranked in the top 500 worldwide.

Each year, VNUHCM provides nearly 20.000 bachelors, engineers, doctors, pharmacists, masters, and doctoral graduates in almost all fields to Ho Chi Minh City, the provinces of the Southeast, Southwest, Central Highlands, and South Central Coast regions.