The university was established in 2001 as Tra Vinh Community College (TVCC) in an international partnership between the Vietnamese and Canadian governments.

The university has to report and be directly responsible for its operation to the managing unit – Tra Vinh People Committee and the Ministry of Training and Education (MOET).

Within ten years of its formation and development, the university gradually confirmed its scale and training quality in the Mekong Delta.

[citation needed] Currently, Tra Vinh University has 13 Schools of: Economics and Law (SEL); Southern Khmer Language, Culture, Art and Humanity (SLASKA); Medicine and Pharmacy | TVU Hospital; Agriculture and Aquaculture; Engineering and Technology (SET); Applied Chemistry; Physical Education; Political Theory; and Pre-University.

Tra Vinh University offers three Doctoral programs including Culture Studies (Southern Khmer Culture), Business Administration and Literature Teaching Methodology, and fifteen Master programs (updated in July, 2017) consisting of Culture Studies, Business Administration, Economic Law, Rural Development, Chemical Technology, Economics Management, Literature Teaching Methodology, English Teaching Methodology, Veterinary, Finance-Banking, Electricity Technology, Civil and Procedural Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Information Technology and Accounting.