[6] The acquisition of a piece of land in Sungai Ara was then followed by the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman on 7 August 1967.

The university operated on borrowed premises at the Malayan Teachers' Training College at Gelugor, with only 57 science-based students in the beginning.

[12][13] In 1983, a health campus was opened in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, housing a training hospital in the beginning for fourth year medical students.

[20][21] December that same year, the Engineering Campus moved to its permanent site in Teronoh, 30 kilometres away from the state's capital and was officially opened by Sultan Azlan Shah on 13 September 1990.

[24] In 1997, the Ministry of Education decided to transfer the engineering campus back to Penang to help fulfill the state's growing human resources needs in its Electrical and Electronics Sector.

[32][33] USAINS Holding Sdn Bhd, USM's corporate arm was later established on 21 October 1999 to leverage the available skills for income-generating business development, replacing its Innovation and Consultancy Centre.

It was constructed on 12.4ha plot of land located few kilometres away from the main campus that was bought from IJM Corporation in March that year for RM59 million.

[43] In 2010, an international offshore medical campus in collaboration with KLE University was established in the college's compound in Belgaum, India.

[45] On 9 October 2023, USM@KL moved from its original location in Wisma Sejarah, Jalan Tun Razak, to a new office at MoF Inc Tower, Platinum Park.

Its initial draft was designed by York Heralds of Arms in London, before being perfected by an artist and Penang Free School (PFS) teacher, Mr. G.S.

[48] The arms of the university is displayed on a native shield, and contains much local symbolism, but generally conform to traditional English heraldic principles and may be blazoned as follows.

[49][50] Shield: Purpure in chief in front of two krises in saltire an open book and in base a Bunga Raya or hibiscus flower all proper.

[52] The current Chief Integrity Officer is Dr. Khairul Anuar Che Azmi, the university's first ombudsman, and is also the Legal Advisor.

A few number of clubs specialised in martial arts also exist within the university such as Taekwondo, Karate, Silat Cekak and Kung Fu.

The ground of the main campus was used as one of the venues for the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup and the finish line of the Penang Bridge International Marathon, before this was relocated to Queensbay Mall in 2008.