The University of Žilina was established on 1 October 1953 as the College of Railways in Prague.

[2] It was renamed again to the University of Žilina pursuant to the law passed by the Slovak National Council on 20 November 1996.

All the university's faculties provide a supplementary course of pedagogical studies for students and graduates.

These include the European Union projects TEMPUS, COPERNICUS, COST, LLP/ERASMUS, Leonardo da Vinci, than CEEPUS, National Scholarship Programme, DAAD.

In March 2024, the University announced that they would be closing the Faculty of Humanities due to financial pressure, affecting up to 500 students.