The latter city was already home to the Parliament of Brittany, and therefore was considered better suited to host an academic institution.

There were no clear boundaries between the three faculties until 1885 with the creation of a "Conseil des facultés", which in 1896 took the name of University of Rennes.

In the middle of the 19th century, these were situated in the Palais Universitaire, located currently in the Quai Émile Zola, but were then scattered throughout the city.

In 1967, the Villejean campus opened, dedicated to arts, letters, and human sciences.

The University of Rennes 1 School of Medicine is located on the edge of Villejean campus, and is also based in Brittany's largest hospital center, Pontchaillou.

Since March 2002, the Villejean campus has been accessible by the VAL subway, via 'Villejean-Université' station, reducing the travel time between the inner city and the to only 5 minutes.

Among them are: The film Brocéliande (2003) by Doug Headline is set on campus, though the only recognizable element is the 2001–2002 orange student ID card.