More recently, two new schools have been estalished. The School of Dental Sciences and Allied Health Sciences are now also fully operational. The kelantan campus is now known as the Health Campus, USM and also houses the Kelantan branch of INFORMM, a research institute for research in molecular medicine. Kubang Kerian is 6.6 km from Kota Bharu, the state capital of Kelantan. Kota Bharu has a population of around 420,000 while Kelantan state population is 1.2 million.

 

The main Universiti Sains Malaysia ( USM ) campus is located in Minden, Penan and was established in 1969. USM was founded after an agreement made on a resolution approved by the Penang State Legislative Council in 1962, which suggested that a university college be established in the state. An area in Sungai Ara was identified and later the foundation stone was placed by the then Prime Minister, Y.T.M Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj on the 7th of August 1967.

 

In 1969, the University of Penang was established in responce to the need for a larger campus with a more conducive environment, appropriate to the needs of the future of the country. In April 1969, Professor Hamzah Sendut was elected the first Vice-Chancellor. Two months later, a group of 57 students was accepted to begin their studies. Since the area in Sungai Ara could not be developed as fast as required, the group was placed at the Malaysian Teachers' Training College at Bukit Gelugor on loan from the Education Ministry. In 1971, the campus, which was originally planned to be situated in Sungai Ara moved to its present site, Minden, an area measuring 500 acres.

 

USM has since grown to now include the main campus in Penang, Health Campus in Kelantan and the Engineering Campus in Seberang Perai. Currently there are 24 Schools, 5 Institutes and 14 Centres of Excellence with a total students population ( undergraduate and postgraduate ) of more than 35,000.