A comprehensive institution, it offers more than 60 national degrees in Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Law and Forensics, Economics and Politics, Management and Administration, and Technology.

The university was constantly ranked as a leading academic institution by various French academicians and newspapers, most notably Le Figaro.

The Faculty of Arts was founded in 1808, inaugurated in May 1810 in the hospital Charitains (demolished in 1906), but it is improvised from the Restoration in September 1815.

The university was also severely affected: On 25 November 1943, the buildings were surrounded by the Gestapo, with orders to arrest deans, students and those from Alsace-Lorraine, and they all could be related to the resistance.

In 2004, the university saw a rapid improvement in the framework and courses were significantly altered to higher standards, particularly in fields of Medicine, Law and Economics-Management.

The Economics-Management department has tie ups for student internships with various institutions, namely UNESCO and in Saint-Etienne, which houses the headquarters of various French and international companies.