Established in 1957, USSH was originally known as the Faculty of Letters, which was part of Saigon University. October, 1975, marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the university when it began its first academic year after the reunification of the country by instituting various changes in its training objectives, curricula and programs. Another landmark in the history of the university was the merging of the Faculty of Letters and the Faculty of Sciences in Saigon University in April, 1977, resulting in Ho Chi Minh City University (HCMU), the largest training and research center in the South of Vietnam. March, 1996, saw the separation of HCMU into its two components, University of Natural Sciences and University of Social Sciences and Humanities, both of which were given independent status and became members of Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City. With this reform, the university has been officially known as USSH ever since.