Since its foundation to the 2010s, the university witnessed a significant growth in terms of student population, modern facilities and the quality and diversity of programs on offer.

The medical school of the state funded University of Algarve opened its doors to its first 32 new students in September 2009.

[6] The university student population is about 10,000 and operates over 40 graduate and 68 postgraduate programs (approximately 52 MSc and 16 PhD), counting with around 700 permanent teaching and research staff that developed a significant number of research projects and intellectual property, enhanced also by both the research work produced by more than 120 fellowship grant holders focused on R&D&I and the university business incubator which is a source for entrepreneurial business assistance and seed funding for the development of startup companies.

Federated teams (district championships) are active in men and women’s basketball, futsal and football.

[10] The Student Union also organises: The Portimão branch of UAlg, 70 km to the west of Faro's UAlg headquarters, awards degrees in business management and tourism as well as technical specialization courses in accountancy and post-graduation in real estate appraisal & management.