Originally founded in 1827 as the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute, the university was subject to a series of merges, incorporations, and expansions with other local colleges, one of which occurred under the supervision of Prince George, Duke of Kent.

By 1945, the creation of the Music Department allowed the college to capitalise on the growing demand for a variety of subject areas.

In 1956 the Joint Education Committee of the college noted: "Research is an essential feature of any institution of higher learning.

Very good work is being done in applied science, and mechanical engineering is bringing to fruition negotiation with a local firm for sponsored research into problems at heat exchangers".

[14] By 1964, with the further expansion of higher education the college began to provide BA degrees with options in English, Geography, History, Music, and Economics among others.

It provides online space for tutors to make reference materials, notes, videos and documents related to a subject available.

These learning centres were a fusion of traditional libraries with high-tech facilities, aimed at providing a greater range of accessible materials for students.

The following year the university opened the Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton on the City campus along with the new SC building in Telford.

Highlights include the £26 million 'Millennium City' building opening by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown in February 2003.

Plans for a further £45 million investment in City Campus were announced in December 2012, with redevelopments including a new Business School building opposite the Molineux Stadium.

In addition, there are three separate Halls of Residence on this campus: North Road, Lomas Street and Randall Lines.

[citation needed] The Alan Turing Building contains an open plan workspace, as well as prototyping equipment and software packages for 3D modelling and product design.

It provides electronic auto-service and online cataloguing facilities, and academic librarians manage, monitor and update the available information.

[citation needed] The Wolverhampton School of Art is housed in the George Wallis building, which was formally opened by Sir Charles Wheeler in 1970.

The campus is home to the e-Innovation Centre which provides startup companies and small and medium enterprises with business accommodation and funded support from a team of IT consultants, giving them access to the university's IT facilities, expertise and resources.

Students studying sport, music, dance, education, health, events management, tourism and hospitality are based here.

[citation needed] Facilities at Boundary House allow trainee nurses and other healthcare professionals to follow the academic part of their course.

[citation needed] The Walsall Campus Sports Centre was named as an official training base for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

As well as business support services, it offers office accommodation and workshop/laboratory areas for companies, as well as conference and meeting facilities.

These represent Lady Wulfrun often regarded as the founder of what is now the City of Wolverhampton in CE circa 980 (a settlement described as Wulfruna's Heantun in the Saxon Chronicles) and Thomas Telford, the engineer who, in 1787 became surveyor of public works for Shropshire, and whose works and structures can be seen across the region and the nation and after whom the Shropshire New Town was named.

[53] The Board of Governors is responsible for the oversight of the university's activities and for the effective and efficient use of resources and the safeguarding of assets.

[67][68][69] In May 2008 the university was awarded seven Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, securing its top position in the West Midlands.

In September 2009 it was awarded £24.3 million for knowledge transfer, bringing it to 2nd place nationally for the number of KTPs it runs.

[70] In June 2013, a university team won a Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Award (THELMA) in the category of Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year for its "one-stop shop" approach to promoting services to businesses.

[75] The university announced it was taking steps to reduce expenditure on staff pay and launched a voluntary redundancy exercise on 1 October 2009.

In 2015, despite 2014 REF successes, the Vice Chancellor announced that four areas of research would be cut back and some professors selected for compulsory redundancy while all professors would be subject to more rigorous annual appraisal which would lead to demotion to senior lecturer in three years if they failed to sustain their target levels of outputs, income and PhD students.

The university offers over 1600 places in Halls of Residence across three campuses, including over 1000 rooms with en-suite facilities.

In 2013 the university won a Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Award for Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year.

[80] The trust sponsors a number of schools in the West Midlands including University of Wolverhampton Wednesfield Academy and Health Futures UTC.

Other notable alumni include: Sir Terence Beckett, former director-general of the Confederation of British Industry; Sir Charles Wheeler, sculptor and President of the Royal Academy; Suzi Perry, television presenter and journalist; Maggie Gee, novelist; Trevor Beattie, advertising executive; Peter Bebb, special effect artist;[81] Vernie Bennett, singer, formerly of Eternal; Scott Boswell, former professional cricketer; David Carruthers, Professor Paul Gough, Vice-Chancellor, Arts University Bournemouth, and Chair of UKADIA,;[82] Major Peter Cottrell, soldier, author and military historian; academic, artist and disability rights activist Paul Darke; Matt Hayes, television angler; Tanwir Ikram, Deputy Senior District Judge; Mil Millington, director & filmmaker; Richard Duncan, author and philanthropist; Michael Cumming, author; Magnus Mills, author; Mark O'Shea, zoologist and television presenter; Cornelia Parker, artist/sculptor; Julian Peedle-Calloo, television presenter; Robert Priseman, artist; Anne Schwegmann-Fielding, artist; Michael Salu, graphic artist and creative director; Ged Simmons, television actor; Gillian Small, University Dean for Research, City University of New York; Clare Teal, jazz singer and broadcaster; Andrew White, writer and TV presenter; Andy Thompson, footballer; Patrick Trollope, editor of UK's first online-only regional newspaper; Annemarie Wright, artist; Adesua Etomi, actress; and Tim Dutton, actor.