[5] Located within the Metro East of Greater St. Louis, SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

During the post–World War II economic expansion, a lack of public higher education was noticeable in the growing Metro-East area.

Southern Illinois University (SIU), over 100 miles (160 km) to the region's south, opened a residence center in Belleville in 1949.

[11] In 1955, the Edwardsville Chamber of Commerce founded the Southwestern Illinois Council for Higher Education (SWICHE), tasked with creating a more permanent solution to the problem.

[12] Myers's 1957 report, The Extent and the Nature of Needs for Higher Education in Madison and St. Clair Counties, outlined the precise need:[13] the 1950 census showed that students in the region in question were only half as likely as those in other regions of the country to finish a four-year college degree program (owing specifically to the lack of a nearby university and the financial difficulties of going to school away from home at other state universities).

[16] Myers concluded that, rather than more residence centers, private schools, or junior colleges, a branch of a four-year public university would best serve the needs of the area.

[18] Acting on the report, in 1957, SIU purchased both a former building of East St. Louis High School and the campus of Shurtleff College in Alton as temporary facilities.

Money for the purchase came from A) contributions from individuals, businesses, industries, labor unions, civic organizations, and PTAs; B) loans from 14 Metro-East banks; and C) state funding.

[19] The location, west of Edwardsville, was chosen due to its accessibility via highways, its usability as an educational campus, and its proximity to the major urban areas of the Metro-East.

Ground was broken in 1963[23] and, with the first two buildings (Peck Hall and Lovejoy Library) completed, classes were first held on the Edwardsville campus in fall 1965.

[25] Prior to the development of the Edwardsville campus, six "Divisions of Academic Programs" were established for the SIU Residential Centers in Alton and East St. Louis on March 4, 1960.

[29] From 1969 to 1980, the SIUE campus hosted the Mississippi River Festival (MRF), a summer outdoor concert series that featured performances by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (which was in-residence on campus during the MRF's early years) and high-profile classical, jazz, folk, pop, and rock artists including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Van Cliburn, Aaron Copland, Bob Hope, The Who, Yes, Chicago, Joan Baez, The Eagles, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and The Grateful Dead.

[30] Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is located on 2,660 acres (1,076.5 ha) of trees and lakes, making SIUE one of the largest college campuses in the US by land area.

[31] The campus is home to a wide variety of university programs and facilities—classroom and labs, arts and theatre spaces, research centers, student housing, and athletic and recreational venues.

The majority of SIUE's academic buildings are located in the Core Campus, inside Circle Drive on the south side of the 77 acres (31.2 ha) Cougar Lake.

The building is named after Katherine Dunham and houses the Departments of Music, Mass Communications, Theater and Dance, and the Information Technology Services.

[44] There is also a theater seating approximately 400, with a proscenium stage, orchestra pit, theatrical lighting, and special effect trap doors.

[32] Available to students 24 hours a day, the Success Center houses academic and personal support services all in one convenient location, a study lounge and coffee bar, meeting rooms, and a Mac computer lab.

[47] Rendleman Hall, since 1970, has also been the location of the branch U.S. Post Office for ZIP code 62026, which serves SIUE's campuses in Edwardsville, Alton, and East St. Louis.

[58] Cougar Field, home of the softball team, and its Fulginiti Indoor practice facility (opened 2012) sits just to the northwest of Korte Stadium.

[70] It is home to 27 business, industry, and state tenants classified as agricultural-biotechnology, professional services, health sciences and information technology.

[70] The School of Pharmacy also has space in the adjacent 200 University Park Building and in the nearby Technology and Management Center and the Biotechnology Laboratory Incubator, which also contains Biology and Chemistry labs, as well as the Geographic Information Systems offices.

The center's resources include a staff possessed of diverse skills, a classroom and laboratory for developmental work, and a lending library of media and teaching materials and equipment.

The Southwest Illinois Advanced Manufacturing Center (SIAM) was launched in 2005, performing applied and basic research for product/process development and improvement.

The center provides educational programs, community outreach health services, and cultural events to an economically deprived area of the Metro East.

[81] The ESLC operates in conjunction with the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School to prepare students for career and college programs.

In fiscal year 2016, SIUE faculty and staff received 162 grants and contracts for research, teaching, and service initiatives worth more than $24 million—which ranked second among more than 680 comparable public and private universities in the country.

[93] SIUE has had full accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools since 1969.

Participants can receive credit toward a leadership transcript by documenting service hours and by providing an account of skills obtained and duties performed.

[142] WSIE-FM 88.7 is the university-owned radio station that specializes in modern jazz, blues, R&B, news, SIUE sports, and student programming.