The University of Santo Tomas–Legazpi, also referred to by its acronym UST–Legazpi or USTL, is a private, Catholic basic and higher education institution, and a part of the University of Santo Tomas System that is run and owned by the Philippine Dominican Province of the Order of Preachers (OP). It was founded by Buenaventura de Erquiaga in 1948 and named Legazpi Junior Colleges.

UST–Legazpi, despite its name, is an autonomous institution, separate from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

Name changes
1948:	Legazpi Junior Colleges
1952:	Legazpi College
1968:	Aquinas University of Legazpi
Present:	University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi

Presidents and Rectors
1948-1957	Ramon C. Fernandez
1957–1958	Bienvenido N. Santos
1961–1963	Margarito M. Delgado
1963–1965	Manuel Lacuesta
As a university
1965-1978	Ramon C. Salinas
1978-1984	Manuel T. Piñon
1985–1988	Pedro V. Salgado
1988–1992	Patricio A. Apa
1992–1995	Orlando C. Aceron
1995–1999	Virgilio A. Ojoy
1999–2011	Ramonclaro G. Mendez
2011-2024	Ernesto M. Arceo
2024-present	Edwin A. Lao

Legazpi Junior Colleges was founded on June 8, 1948, by a Basque, Buenaventura de Erquiaga. On July 1, 1965, the administration of Legazpi College was passed on to the Dominican Fathers. Ramon C. Salinas became the college's first rector.

On March 8, 1968, the Secretary of Education, Carlos P. Romulo, elevated the college to the status of a university. On August 30, 1968, Onofre D. Corpus, acting Secretary of Education, signed the university charter. Legazpi College was renamed Aquinas University of Legazpi. The investiture of the first rector and president of the new university, Father Salinas, was held on February 3, 1969, amidst pageantry and color, attended by local, national, and foreign dignitaries.

The University soon earned recognition as the center of learning in Southern Luzon, chosen as one of the five Regional Science Teaching Centers in the Philippines by the Science Education Program of the Philippines with the assistance of the National Science Development Board, the UNICEF, and the Science Education Center of the University of the Philippines.

The Aquinas University Bureau of Small Scale Industries opened in 1973 the short-term, non-degree ladder-type course on Abacacraft Technology and Management. The course is offered to train selected out-of-school youth the necessary skills for the handicraft industry in the Bicol Region. The Bureau reopened on February 5, 1977, at the Plaza Arcade building in Peñaranda St., Legazpi City.

In 1975, Aquinas University acquired Legazpi Medical Center. The name of the medical center was changed to Aquinas University Hospital (now UST-Legazpi Hospital).

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) named the university as one of the country's Center of Excellence in Teacher Education in 1996.

While the administration of Fr. Salinas saw the laying of cornerstones of the three main buildings in the Rawis Campus, the term of Fr. Mendez witnessed more buildings being constructed: a permanent convent for the St. Raymund of Peñafort, the AQ Chapel, and the cavernous AQ Dome. The Daragang Magayon Hall was transferred to a more spacious, air-conditioned, venue. Classrooms were added and laboratories were upgraded. Engineering, Architecture, and Fine Arts classes are now held in a new building, the two-storey Fra Angelico. Since its acquisition in 1975, the Aquinas University Hospital has served as the base hospital of the University's college of Nursing, the recent vertical expansion of which altered the skyline of the Albay District and provided the most up-to-date holistic care to its patients.

Aquinas University Integrated Schools or AQUI (secondary level) has two curricula, one for Science High School (SHS), and the other for the Special Program in the Arts (SPA). The University's Professional Schools comprise the College of Law, Graduate School, and the Center for Continuing Education. The College of Business Management and Accountancy; College of Arts, Sciences and Education; College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts; and College of Health Sciences comprise the University's tertiary level.

The AQ Labor Management Council has been a national finalist in the 2005 Search for Outstanding LMC for Industrial Peace, reflecting the harmonious labor-management relations in the University.

Established in 2002, the Aquinas University Foundation, Inc. (AQFI) has incubated various sustainable enterprises growing and producing indigenous and environment-friendly products, in the process helping reach out and bring employment to people in the rural areas. The AQFI now has about 300 hectares (740 acres) devoted to reestablishing abaca as a top grosser for Albay and Bikol. The AQFI has also invested in coconut coir production and a system of deriving income from initiated and supported cooperative projects.

Aquinas University of Legazpi is now not merely confined to the boundaries of its campuses in Rawis and Legazpi Port District. The university has acquired properties to serve its institutional, educational, and development thrusts. "Bahay ni Kuya" in Albay District is now a Life Coaching and Wellness Center which is a timely response to the periodic calamities that visit the region. The Kyama Building near the downtown district now houses the AQ Pharmacy, a ‘botika ng bayan’ that dispenses low cost medicine. The Kyama Building also hosts the AQFI. The Holy Trinity Convent in Sunrise Subdivision houses the Dominican Sisters. The "Bahay ni Julius" in Tagontong, Taysan is being developed for future use. Estates in Banquerohan and Anislag are in the acquisition stage. The AQFI has earmarked these estates as relocation sites for some 800 to 900 families displaced by super typhoon Reming. The university has also reached the southern shores of Mindanao, with a farm in Tagum City and a house in Bajada, Davao City.

UST Manila rector Herminio Dagohoy approved the renaming of Aquinas University of Legazpi to University of Santo Tomas—Legazpi after the decision was made by the UST Council of Regents in December 2016. An application for a change of name was made with the Securities and Exchange Commission which took effect in academic year 2017–18.

UST—Legazpi retained the board of trustees of the old Aquinas University as its board of trustees including administrative and fiscal independence from UST in Manila.

The university offers programs in basic education, undergraduate and graduate studies, and law. Twenty-four undergraduate programs are offered in the university's 4 colleges, namely the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education (CASE), the College of Health Sciences (CHS), the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Fine Arts (CEAFA), and the College of Business Management and Accountancy (CBMA).

UST-Legazpi College of Law is the first and oldest law school in Albay. The college produced its first lawyers in 1955. It offers a 4-year Juris Doctor (JD) program. Mae Diane Azores, an alumna of the college, topped the 2019 Philippine Bar Examinations.

The Graduate School offers 8 masters programs and 4 doctorate programs in the fields of law, business and finance, government and public service, ecclesiastical leadership and education, nursing, social work, and psychology. The Master of Arts in Education (MAEd) and Master in Business Administration (MBA) are PACUCOA Level III accredited programs.

College	Year founded
Arts, Sciences, and Education
Health Sciences
Engineering, Architecture, and Fine Arts
Business, Management, and Accountancy
Graduate School	1951
Law

• Noel E. Rosal — the incumbent Governor of Albay, and previously served as Mayor of Legazpi City, Albay. Rosal obtained his master's degree in business administration from Aquinas University.
• Merlinda Bobis — a contemporary Philippine-Australian writer and academic.
• Mae Diane Azores — the topnotcher of the 2019 Philippine Bar Exam