The Akwa Ibom State University was originally established in 2003 as the Akwa Ibom State University of Technology. In 2010 the university became a conventional, multi-campus university and was renamed Akwa Ibom State University.
The university has two campuses: the main campus and the Obio Akpa Campus. The main campus is situated in the southern part of the Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria. The Obio Akpa Campus has a suburban setting, a 15 minute drive from the city of Uyo. This campus is home to three faculties: agriculture, social sciences, and management sciences.
There are eight faculties within the university: faculty of agriculture, faculty of arts, faculty of biological sciences, faculty of physical sciences, faculty of engineering, faculty of social sciences, faculty of management sciences, and the faculty of education. Within these eight faculties, the university currently offers 45 undergraduate programmes and 78 postgraduate programmes.