The history of the University goes back to 1940 when the Lutsk State Teachers’ Training Institute was founded. 135 students were admitted to the Institute, and 50 teachers conducted the educational process.

At that time there were four faculties in the Institute: the Philology Faculty (made up of the Ukrainian and Russian departments), the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, the Natural History and Geography Faculty and the Extra-Mural Faculty.

The physical facilities and the academic foundation of the Institute were very poor: it was housed in the building of the former orphanage built in 1929 in the suburbs of Lutsk (now it is a boarding school). It was very poorly equipped and there weren’t enough books. The teaching staff lacked professional qualifications. Gradually the classrooms and laboratories were supplied with the necessary equipment and the library received  new acquisitions.

The Poltavsky Pedagogical Institute rendered assistance in the solution of all these problems.

The first Director of the Institute was Ivan Terentiyovych Sokur.

The educational program, was interrupted by the war (1941-1945), and then was reestablished in 1946. In September 1951, with the Teachers’ Training Institute as its predecessor, the Pedagogical Institute was founded and in a year later it was named after Lessya Ukrainka. At that time the Institute had only two faculties -  the Faculty of History and Philology and the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. By the beginning of the 1990s there were nine faculties operating in the Institute.

June 16, 1993, the President of Ukraine L.M.Kravchuk signed the Decree establishing  the Volyn State University named after Lessya  Ukrainka as the predecessor of the Lutsk State Pedagogical Institute.

At present, the University includes 4 Institutes (the Institute of Social Studies, the Institute of Arts and the Institute of Physical Training and Health), 14 faculties and 73 departments. 703 teachers work at the University, including 437 who have Doctorates or Kandidat Nauk degrees as well as  Assistant Professors and Professors.

Each year dozens of our students are prize-winners at the Regional, State and International Olympiads and contests, and more than 100 students’ research works are published in specialized editions. The students can take internship courses at prestigious universities in the USA, Germany, Canada, Sweden and Poland.

The teachers’ research work has been reinforced; a great deal  has been accomplished in the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Geography, Mathematics and the Humanities.

Scholars from our University are highly appreciated and respected among the researchers of Ukraine. The evidence of this can be seen in the fact that they are invited to participate in the work of the council of experts of the VAK (the Highest Attestation Commission) in Physics, Chemistry and the Study of Literature, and in the specialized councils for the defence of Kandidat-level and doctoral theses. The scientific works of our teachers are regularly published in such periodicals of our University as: “Naukovyi Visnyk VDU”, “Psykholohichni Perspektyvy” and “Litopys Volyni”. The editorial publishing department “Vezha” operates within the University. The University newspaper “Nash Universytet” is  published at regular intervals.

The  athletic elite of Volyn  is trained in the Institute of Physical Training and Health. Right here, dozens of athletes who have won medals and awards at the most prestigious  world competitions, received their training.

Our University is proud of the amateur performance groups of the Institute of Arts. They are very well-known not only in our oblast and elsewhere in Ukraine but in other countries as well.

It is beyond question  that our University has attained the status of a classical university, in that it was recognised by the competent commissions that accredited it with the highest fourth level. The Volyn State University  was noted in the international academic rating “Zolota fortuna”, and awarded the silver medal “Nezalezhnist Ukrainy”. The University has become a laureate with the rating of “Krashchi pidpryyemstva Volyni” in the  “Vyshcha Shkola” nomination.

The authorities of the University have made a detailed plan for the further development of the University’s property. First of all, this includes the construction of a modern athletic complex as well as botanical gardens, an additional university building and apartments for the teachers. The University administration and the teaching staff are constantly working towards the goal that the level of knowledge of the University graduates will meet international standards. They are doing their best to bring about the role of the research schools that will function to utmost. They are dreaming of Volyn State University becoming one of the most prestigious Universities in Ukraine and Europe.