Founded by a group of Baltimore business professionals, UBalt originally sought to provide educational opportunities for working men and women, meaning that the first classes were held not above the ornate dragons of the current liberal arts and policy building, but in a four-story rowhouse on St. Paul St. in 1925.

In 1937, after the addition of day programs to augment the initial night courses, a full-scale junior college was added to the university's offerings.

During the presidency of Thomas Granville Pullen, the university became regionally accredited in 1971 with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and built the Langsdale Library.

[10] For a three-decade period that started in 1975 and would eventually end in 2007, UBalt became an "upper division academic institution," offering only third and fourth year undergraduate and post-graduate course work.

[11] The Lower Division Initiative was a program that began in 2005 to extend the University of Baltimore's position to once again offer the first two years of the baccalaureate degree.

In April 2005, the University System of Maryland's board of regents approved plans that would allow UBalt to start accepting freshmen and sophomores.

The university stated that the new program better reflected the current focus and was designed to prepare students in business, pre-law, technology, public affairs, and applied liberal arts.

[7] Since beginning to accept freshmen again, UBalt has built a new, 12-story building for the university's law school along with the construction of additional residential capacity on campus.

The renovation was designed by the German architectural firm Behnisch Architekten, which had also been responsible for the design of the 2013 law school structure at Charles St. and Mount Royal Ave.[14] Starting in 2005, the university's MBA program has been the target of nearby institutions' criticism regarding a supposed diversion of funds, with UB's status as a traditionally white institution bringing calls for a restructuring of state funding.

The Lyric Opera House, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) are nearby.

[20] To that end, an October 2010 announcement indicated that the university was planning an 11-story student housing tower, to again be built in partnership with a private company, according to The Baltimore Sun.

[23] According to a 2014 Baltimore Sun article,[24] the university was considering building additional dormitory space on West Oliver Street, at the site of a facility currently used for postal vehicle maintenance.

According to a 2023 Baltimore Sun article,[25] the university intends to enter into a ground-lease arrangement with the development firm Zahlco for the eventual creation of apartments and ground-floor retail on the former postal site.

At the same time, UBalt's Safety and Security staff provides building access and control, including office lockouts, welcome desk staffing, interior/exterior patrols, and more.

UBalt runs shuttle bus service between its academic buildings, parking garages, and the nearby public transportation/local transit stops.

[34] A student-run press, Plork, provides additional printing experience for students majoring in fields related to media design, publishing, and writing, as does the university's 50-year-old literary magazine, Welter.

[37] Students have the option to reside in The Varsity, located on West Biddle Street 0.2 miles from the campus, or in other private complexes nearby.