“On Thursday, March 11, 1976, the brightness of the morning sun enhances the clarity and liveliness along the middle road of Solo’s north plaza until Siti Hinggil.” The colorful ornaments made of fabrics and young coconut leaves and the clean red-carpet laid out from Pagelaran to Siti Hinggil give Siti Hinggil’s building a new fresh look, making it a perfect place for the ceremony.” (Abu Alim Masykuri, 1977) (Abu Alim Masykuri, 1977)

After all the chaos ended in 1953, it appeared that the desire to establish a public university reappeared, as Solo is known as the center of original Javanese culture. There were enormous potentials for both teaching staffs and students. As a result, the founding committee was founded, with Mohammad Saleh, the Mayor of Solo at that time, serving as its chairman. Unfortunately, the effort failed before it commenced.

It was due to the lack of economy in the regional or central government. Moreover, the desire of some factions to establish their private universities and the lack of sympathy from some academics of Gajah Mada University. As a result, many obstacles, such as the commotions among the political parties fighting for power in the government and city development at the time, caused the idea to fade. 

Ten years later, in 1963, Kota Praja Surakarta University (UPKS) appeared out of nowhere. This university was founded by the regional government, which Utomo Ramelan led at the time. At the same time, the Communist Party was rapidly expanding, influencing a wide range of social issues. It also impacted UPKS, as knowledge of socialism increased in the university’s educational system. Then, after the G30 S incident in Indonesia, the university was closed down since all socialism/communism-related activities were prohibited.

The concept of the establishment reappeared on January 11, 1968, when R. Kusnandar was the Mayor. Then, he formed the founding committee, which, like the previous committee, failed to realize the idea. The reason was still similar to the previous one namely the central government was unable to provide the fund for establishing a new public university in Solo, and the regional economy was suffering at the time.

Almost at the same time, Saraswati National University proposed to become a public university in 1966. The minister permitted it. Then, along with the other private and service universities, it merged to form the Joint University of Surakarta (UGS). UGS was legally established on June 1, 1975, by eight universities that had joined together. These eight universities were STO Negeri Surakarta, PTPN Veteran Surakarta, AAN Saraswati, Cokroaminoto University, Saraswati National University, Islam Indonesia University (Surakarta branch), 17 Agustus 1945 University (Surakarta branch), and Journalism Indonesia Surakarta Institute.

At the end of December 31, 1975, the Minister of Education and Culture reviewed UGS and determined it would become a public university on March 11, 1976.

Furthermore, UGS would be combined with Solo’s other public and private universities to form a single public university. These universities are the Teacher Training and Education Institute, Sports Specialised College, Niaga Negeri Administration Academy integrated into Niaga Negeri Administration Academy in Yogyakarta, Joint University of Surakarta, and Faculty of Medicine P. T. P. N. Veteran. The combined university had nine faculties, namely Faculty of Education, Faculty of Teacher Training, Faculty of Cultural Literature, Faculty of Social and Politics, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Economy, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, and Faculty of Engineering.

Finally, on March 11, 1976, Universitas Negeri Surakarta Sebelas Maret was legally established after all preparations had been completed. Since 1977, UNS has had its main integrated campus in Kentingan, Jebres, Surakarta, which has approximately 60 hectares obtained from the Mayor of Surakarta via the Mayor’s Decree on October 18, 1976, numbered 238/Kep/T3/1976. At the later time, the name and abbreviation Universitas Negeri Surakarta Sebelas Maret (UNS Sebelas Maret) was changed to Universitas Sebelas Maret in 1982 (UNS). The name change and abbreviation were officially announced by The Decree of President of the Republic of Indonesia No. 55 Year 1982.