SLSU is mandated to provide advanced education, professional, technological instruction in the fields of allied medicine, education, engineering, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, environment, arts and sciences, accountancy, cooperative, business and entrepreneurship, technology and other relevant fields of study in the Province of Quezon and in Region IV-A CALABARZON.

18 series of 1966 effectively expropriated about 4.9 ha of land in Barrio Kulapi - a site which the Council initially allocated for the establishment of a public market - in favor of the Municipal High School.

86 was passed requesting the change of name to Lucban Municipal High School to accommodate students into the third and fourth year levels.

The Municipal and Provincial Councils deemed it to be outside their authority to enact a law that would ensure the continued operation of the Community College.

This was in line with his administration's approach to countryside development by bringing Colleges and Universities to the provinces and rural areas.

[17][18] It is also an accredited "Dark Green School", which means that SLSU's instruction, research, and extension activities are geared towards environmental awareness and protection.

[19] Based on the CHED-Department of Budget and Management Joint Circular, a Level III SUC is "very good in undertaking the functions of a state university/college",[20] that is, instruction, research, and extension.

In 2018, the AACCUP recognized SLSU as a top ranking SUC in the Philippines in terms of number of degree programs accredited.

[21] The university has also been recognized by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) of the Philippines for top performance in licensure examinations and for producing topnotchers in board examinations in the fields of Nursing, Midwifery, Teacher Education, Forestry, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Technician, Mechanical Engineering, and Accountancy.

[22] As a State University, SLSU is mandated to submit its programs and services to external audit for quality assurance.

In terms of instruction, research, and extension services, periodic survey visits are conducted by the Accrediting Agency for Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP).

The Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines, on the other hand, conducts its in-house Institutional Sustainability Assessment (ISA).

[24] The Lucban main campus is home to five colleges: (1) Allied Medicine, (2) Teacher Education, (3) Arts and Sciences, (4) Administration, Business, Hospitality Management, and Accountancy, (5) Engineering and (6) Agriculture; one institute, the Institute of Human Kinetics, and various research centers for agricultural and environmental research.

The university also has key partner educational institutions in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Malaysia, and the United States.