It bears the name of Russian poet Sergei Yesenin, who grew up in the region.

[1] RSU was founded in 1915, as a women's teacher training institute.

In 1918, it was renamed as the Ryazan State Pedagogical Institute.

[2] In 1930 it was restructured and again renamed as the Ryazan State Pedagogical University.

As of 1999[update], they enrolled roughly 5,500 students and employed 400 faculty and administrative staff.