[7] This plan never came to fruition due to the clash between British empire expansion and the desire of King Prempeh I to preserve his Ashanti kingdom's independence.

[7] However, his younger brother and successor, King Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh II, upon ascending to the Golden Stool in the year 1935, continued with this vision.

[8] Secondly, there were the 1948 Accra riots and the consequent Watson Commission report, which recommended that a university of sciences be established in Kumasi.

In 1955, the school embarked on courses leading to the University of London Bachelor of Engineering External Degree Examinations.

[21] In pursuit of this policy, the Teacher Training College, with the exception of the Art School, was transferred in January 1958, to the Winneba Training College; in 1959 the Commerce Department was transferred to Achimota to form the nucleus of the present School of Administration of the University of Ghana, Legon.

[23] Following the report of the commission which came out early 1961, the government decided to establish two independent universities in Kumasi and Legon, Accra.

[41][42] KNUST has, since January 2005, transformed from its previous centralized system of administration into a decentralized collegiate university.

This led to administrative difficulties as new faculties and institutes were created to meet the ever-growing academic pursuits of students.

[44] The colleges are semi-autonomous, which means that they are given the power to largely run on their own without much dependence on the central administration for financial support.

These are: There are facilities on campus where non-resident students can rest between lectures and study before they leave for their homes and hostels.

[52] In January 2014, the top floor of the Crystal Rose Hostel[53] caught fire while most students were on vacation.

This decision was made to offer opportunity for people to pursue academic programmes with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, while still on full-time employment.

[45] The KNUST Library provides information in electronic and print formats to staff and students mainly to support teaching, learning and research in science and technology for national development.

It is a depository library for all materials published in Ghana and for international institutions and organisations like the World Bank and other United Nations Agencies.

[76] Focus FM is a network radio positioned on campus of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi.

The center targets for the status quo of the station is to inform, teach and entertain the whole college network and the encompassing communities.

In November 2019, KNUST was ranked as the best university in Ghana and West Africa by U.S. News & World Report and still holds the record in 2020.

[85] The university has also won the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition a record three consecutive times.

[88][89] In December 2024, the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP), through UNIDO and EU funding, enabled KNUST's Food Science and Technology Laboratory to become the first public university in Ghana accredited with ISO/IEC 17025:2017, providing SMEs with reliable food testing services.

[90][91][92] Yvonne Osei Adobea emerged victorious in the SRC presidential elections at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on 26 July 2023.

This historic win marked the first time a female had assumed leadership of the Student's Representative Council at KNUST in its 71-year history.