Founded in 2000, SMU is the third oldest autonomous university in the country, modelling its education after the Wharton School.

In 2024, SMU was ranked 44th in the world for Business and Management Studies, while also placing in the top 100 for Economics and Finance by QS.

[6] SMU enrols about 10,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programmes in accountancy, business administration, business analytics, economics, financial services, information systems, software engineering, law, and the social sciences.

Ho Kwon Ping, a Singaporean business entrepreneur, was appointed to chair the task-force which determined that the new institution would follow the American university system featuring a more flexible broad-based education.

In July 1999, Janice Bellace, then Deputy Dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, commenced a two-year term as SMU's first president alongside founding provost, Tan Chin Tiong.

[7] In 2000, SMU made its first home at the former Raffles College (now the National University of Singapore's Bukit Timah campus) on Evans Road near Hwa Chong Institution.

[7] Between 2000 and 2005, SMU saw the formation of four schools, its library and three centres of excellence as well as the graduation of the first batch of its students.

[8] In 2010, Yong Pung How and Arnoud De Meyer took over the positions of SMU Chancellor and President from Richard Hu and Howard Hunter respectively.

[14] For entry to graduate or master programmes, SMU requires GMAT and TOEFL or IELTS for most of the majors.

[33] Previously, the SOL existed as the Department of Law under SMU's Lee Kong Chian School of Business, where it was chaired by Andrew Phang.

On 11 April 2021, SMU renamed the school to include former Chief Justice Yong Pung How's name as a recognition for his founding contributions to the university.

SMU Academy offers programmes for working professionals, to provide continuous lifelong education through diplomas and certificate programs.

These courses include Executive Skills for board members in Challenging Times; SNEF-SMU CEO Seminars: The Art & Science of Productivity Leadership; and Johnson & Johnson-SMU Hospital Management.

[50] The tenth edition of the LKYGBPC launched the VC Office Hours, offering one-on-one consultations for founders by more than 30 senior partners from leading venture capital firms.

[51] Another highlight of the tenth edition was the Changemakers Conversations, a series of virtual panel discussions centred around themes such as "Our New Normal" and "Growth in Asia".

[65] QS World University Rankings by Subject (broad subject areas) 2024: SMU is the first university in Asia to be accredited by Ashoka, a global non-profit organisation supporting leading social entrepreneurs worldwide, as a Changemaker Campus as well as the first university in Singapore to be accredited as a research organisation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. headquartered in Washington, D.C.[77][78] SMU's Lee Kong Chian School of Business is one of the youngest business schools in the world and the only Singaporean business school to achieve the 'triple crown' accreditation by the AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS.

It acquires, organises and provides access to the research and scholarly works of SMU faculty.

Collections in InK include journal articles, working papers, conference proceedings, books, book chapters, reports and other research works including the dissertations and theses of postgraduate students and a collection of print and video teaching cases.

The campus has 9 blocks: Six of the buildings are connected by an underground walkway known as the Concourse, which is open to the public and lined with shops.