It was named after the 19th century Romanian illuminist and ethnologist Alecu Russo.

The original complex of buildings in the 1930s housed the financial administration, three high schools (two of which were girls-only) and has the characteristic architecture of the time.

Languages (English, French, German, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian), mathematics, physics, some engineering, law, economics, music education, pedagogy, sociology, and psychology are offered at Bachelor and Master levels.

The university houses one of the biggest libraries in the southeastern Europe, and is an important member of the implementation of the Bologna process in Moldova.

This Moldovan university, college or other education institution article is a stub.