On December 17, 1995, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, the affiliate of the Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov in Ulyanovsk was transformed into the Ulyanovsk State University.  Today, the structure of USU unites four institutes, eight faculties, divisions of secondary vocational education, branches in Inza and  Novospasskoye. The teaching staff includes more than 900 people, including 124 doctors of sciences, 446 candidates of Sciences. Education at the classical University of Ulyanovsk is received by almost 14 thousand students, including 1.5 thousand foreign students, From 1992 to 2020, almost 60 thousand certified specialists were trained at the University.
 In 2017, USU received the status of a flagship university of the Ulyanovsk region.