The university was founded in 1928 by as . It was an evening school for the working youth. In 1929 the school was renamed , which had both day and evening schools (Day school: Department of Commerce / evening school: Departments of Commerce and Law). On 15 May 1930 the college moved to present-day Rokkakubashi Campus. In 1939 it added the technical departments (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Industrial Administration). In 1949 the college was developed into
Kanagawa University, under Japan's new educational system. The university at first had three faculties: the Faculties of Commerce and Engineering and the evening school's Faculty of Commerce. The latter history of the university is as follows: • 1950: the Faculty of Commerce was renamed Faculty of Law and Economics. • 1965: the Faculty of Foreign Languages (
English and
Spanish) was established. • :the Faculty of Law and Economics was divided into two faculties. • 1967: the Graduate Schools of Law (master's/doctoral), Economics (master's/doctoral) and Engineering (master's courses only) were established. • 1989:
Hiratsuka Campus was opened (Shonan Hiratsuka Campus today). • : the Faculties of Business Administration and Science were established. • 1990: the doctoral courses were added to the Graduate School of Engineering. • 1992: the Graduate School of Foreign Languages was established (master's courses only). • 1993: the Graduate Schools of Business Administration, Science and History & Folklore Studies were established (master's courses only). • 1995: the doctoral courses were added to the Graduate Schools of Business Administration, Science and History & Folklore Studies. • 2004: the School of Law was established. • 2006: the Faculty of Human Sciences was established. • 2019: the School of Law was closed • 2020: the Faculty of Cross-Cultural and Japanese Studies was opened. • 2021:
Minato Mirai Campus was established. • 2022: the Faculty of Architecture and Building Engineering was established. • 2023: Shonan Hiratsuka Campus was closed. • 2023: the Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry was established. • 2023: the Faculty of Informatics was established. • 2024: the Graduated School of Foreign Language was renamed Graduate School of Humanities. == Graduate schools ==