The motto and mission of the university in Latin is "Rerum cognoscere causas et valorem" (in English "To learn the causes and values of things.

Its 17-acre (69,000 m2) campus is in the vicinity of historical medieval Old Town of Kraków and easily accessible both on foot or by public transportation.

In addition to the main campus in Kraków, the university has seven Remote Teaching Centers in the cities of the region.

On 6 November 1939, as a part of Sonderaktion Krakau operation, the Nazis arrested professors of Cracow universities who later were executed or sent to concentration camps.

[5][circular reference] Two buildings of the school were seized, and numerous library books and documents were lost.