The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a technical institution can be traced back to the 1870s.

[8] The university is home to over 45 research centres and institutes, who regularly collaborates along with industry and government partners.

Broadway, Haymarket and Blackfriars are located at the city campus, while precincts at Moore Park and Botany integrate specialist facilities with surrounding industry organisations.

[25][26] The UTS Tower on Broadway (Building 1) is an example of brutalist architecture with square and block concrete designs.

Completed and officially opened in 1979 by Premier Neville Wran,[27] the Tower initially housed the NSW Institute of Technology, which transformed to become UTS in the late 1980s.

[24] The external fixed aluminium shading controls solar penetration, while internal spaces include the purpose-built laboratories of the Human Performance Research Centre.

[51][52] The core of the UTS city campus is located close to many Sydney landmarks and notable organisations including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Powerhouse Museum, TAFE Ultimo, the International Convention Centre Sydney, Darling Harbour and Chinatown.

[22][53] Entities within the Central Park development, opposite the UTS Tower on Broadway, partner with the University on sustainability initiatives, which include a recycled water partnership and a district energy-sharing project commended at the 2018 Smart City Awards.

As of 2021[update], these comprise three administrative units (Planning and Quality Unit, UTS Internal Audit and Chief Data Officer), as well as the: The Graduate Research School, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, and the Institute for Sustainable Futures fall under the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research), a number of units relating to international students are governed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (International), and many other administrative units exist under similar divisions under the Vice-Chancellor and President.

Programs are designed in collaboration with UTS and delivered in smaller class sizes, with additional learning support services.

[100] The Australian Government's QILT[c] conducts national surveys documenting the student life cycle from enrolment through to employment.

[101] These surveys place more emphasis on criteria such as student experience, graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction[101] than perceived reputation, research output and citation counts.

Applicants may also be eligible for admission if they have completed a UTS foundation course or an AQF Diploma.

Applicants applying with an IB Diploma will have their scores converted into a UAC Rank for admission.

[108] In 2024, statistics by the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) revealed that the Bachelor of Business program at UTS was the second most in-demand course in the state, with 956 applicants placing it as their first preference.

[8] ActivateUTS (formerly UTS Union)[110] operates a range of on-campus student services, including food and beverage outlets, cultural activities, fitness and catering services as well as clubs and societies, student publications and Orientation Day.

UTS Journalism students help produce the station's news and current affairs programs including "The Wire" and "Razors Edge".

[12] Its sports clubs play in a variety of sports, including Australian rules football, basketball, cricket, hockey, netball, rowing, rugby union, soccer, tennis, volleyball and water polo.

[12] UTS were the overall champion at the Nationals Snow on two occasions (2022, 2023), and were awarded the Spirit of the Mountain Trophy twice, in 2019 and 2023.

[13] The UTS Alumni Awards, which is held annually, recognises graduates of the university who have made important contributions in their field.

[116] Several notable alumni have served as politicians at either federal, state or local level, including former Deputy Leader of the Opposition Tanya Plibersek, former Premier of New South Wales Morris Iemma, former Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales John Robertson and former Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney Henry Tsang.

Other notable alumni include businessman David Murray, journalist and anchor Lynda Kinkade, former Crown Prosecutor of New South Wales Margaret Cunneen, cricketer Pat Cummins, businessman Russell Balding, entertainment journalist Brooke Boney, author Janine Shepherd, cricketer Alyssa Healy, economist Cristina Cifuentes, sports journalist Lara Pitt, author Kate Grenville, investigative journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Chinese Minister of Justice He Rong, businesswoman Kim McKay, and Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson.

In 2021, the former Dean of Science Diane Jolley was found guilty of causing financial disadvantage by deception after orchestrating a campaign of intimidation - against herself - while pushing to cut the UTS traditional Chinese medicine degree.

[118] Jolley was sentenced to 2 years 6 months, to be served by way of Intensive Corrections Order for dishonestly causing financial disadvantage by deception by conveying information likely to make a person fear for the safety of a person, knowing that the information was false or misleading.