The university was founded in 1921 as a teachers’ college and received its present name on 13 October 2001. DU has become the biggest public educational institution in Eastern Latvia and is a member of the European University Association and EU²S², the European Union association of universities of small member states. In 2017 the Latvian government announced plans to integrate the Daugavpils Medical College (lv) into the university as an autonomous institution.