Taking its current name as an autonomous university on February 12, 1981, UV is heir to the most longstanding higher education tradition in Valparaiso and its region.

As the major Pacific port south of San Francisco, Valparaiso was an important centre of business in the nineteenth century.

In 1972, public university education in Valparaiso was organized as a Seat (Sede) of UCH; UV inherited all of this except for the Teaching Institute, which would eventually become the basis of the Universidad de Playa Ancha.

The creation of public regional universities was an important component of the economic reforms undertaken under the military rule that lasted until 1990.

All of these took their more or less current structure following a decision to divide the Universidad de Chile and the State Technical University into autonomous entities.