The University of A Coruña was founded under the Galician Universities Law 11/1989 on July 20th, 1989. The Constituent Assembly passed the University Statutes on the February 4th, 1992and these were published in the Official Bulletin (DOG) on September 17th, 1992.

As a public service, the University of A Coruña is open to the society in general. A symbol of this open attitude can be seen in the Ceremonies which invest honorary Doctor's degrees; ceremonies which acquire a special significance in a university which, while making a continuous effort to keep up to date with modern developments, at the same time makes an effort to maintain the best of academic traditions.

The University of A Coruña is territorially situated in the Campus of A Coruña and the Campus of Ferrol.

All the University campus and buildings are integrated in the corporate Net which, inaugurated on 1st October 1996, is a pioneer in the integration of voice in ATM. As an example of the way in which the University supports new information and communication technology, the Virtual University of A Coruña (UCV) was inaugurated on 1st October 1998.

The University of A Coruña Foundation, a private charitable and academic foundation, has been created in order to provide the University with permanent social support.