The University of Toliara is the oldest of the decentralized higher education centers created since 1971 for the dismemberment of the University of Madagascar. It became a Regional University Center (CUR) in 1977, obtained its University status in 1988 and has since become a fully-fledged University. It brings together four Faculties, an Institute and a Grande Ecole: Faculty of Sciences; Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences; Faculty of Law, Economics, Management and Sociology; Faculty of Medicine; Institute of Fisheries and Marine Sciences; Ecole Normale Supérieure. If the Faculty of Sciences, the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences and the Ecole Normale Supérieure are located at the University Campus of Maninday, located 5 km east of the city of Toliara, the Faculty of Law, Management.

The University of Toliara is also developing its international influence through bilateral partnerships with various universities, both French-speaking and Anglo-Saxon, and internationally renowned Research Centers. The objective being to be able to provide internships for Teacher-Researchers and PhD students.