The university is named after the great Kannada writer, Kuvempu. Its territorial jurisdiction spreads over four revenue districts of Shimoga, Chitradurga, Davangere and Chikmagalur.

The university has 24 postgraduate departments, 18 on the main campus and 6 at the PG center at Davangere, which is about 120 km from the main campus. About 124 degree colleges are affiliated to Kuvempu University, in addition to four constituent colleges.