Under the Nazi regime the university was forced to change its logo, but in 1950 a new seal was introduced, representing Mary with The Child Jesus vanquishing evil.

The university's sports facilities include four gymnasiums, a football pitch and an athletics field with a race track.

A wide range of sports courses are offered throughout the semester and are free to staff and students, including football, volleyball, basketball, rowing, martial arts and aerobics.

The campus additionally has four cafeterias, which offer sandwiches, confectionery, coffee, soft drinks and – this being Bavaria – beer.

It is unusual for a German university to have day care facilities, but the reasonably-priced service is well used by students with toddlers aged 1 to 3.

The University Executive consists of the President, Professor Ulrich Bartosch, four Vice Presidents – Professors Christina Hansen (International Affairs and Diversity), Robert Obermaier (Research), Bettina Noltenius (Studies, Teaching and Ethics), Harald Kosch (Academic Infrastructure and IT Facilities) – as well as the Commissioner for System Accreditation and Internal Integration with the Cross-Functional Task of Sustainability, Professor Werner Gamerith, Head of Administration, Dr Achim Dilling and the Deputy Head of Administration, Mr Thomas Werrlein.

The University of Passau has four faculties: Law; Business, Economics and Information Systems; Arts and Humanities; and Computer Science and Mathematics.

In 2010 the Department of Catholic Theology and the Chair of Philosophy became inactive for a planned 15 years, a highly controversial decision, as the academic staff of the faculty had received numerous awards in recognition of their research achievements.

[citation needed] Fraternities have a long-standing tradition in Germany's student life, although the usage of the word carries very different connotations from that in the United States.

German student fraternities are traditionally linked to nationalism, sometimes combined with old-fashioned social and religious views.

During those weeks students are offered guided tours of the university, libraries, the city and of course the bars and clubs.