The University is envisaged to be a Home of World Class Pro-Poor Scholarship. This is reflected in its motto: "Knowledge for Service" as well as its methodology of teaching, research and outreach programmes.

The University for Development Studies seeks to achieve its vision by:

Promoting equitable and socio-economic transformation of communities through practically oriented, community based, problem solving, gender sensitive and interactive research, teaching, learning and outreach activities.
Providing higher education to persons suitably qualified for and capable of benefiting from it.
Positioning itself as a national asset in the facilitation of lifelong learning.
Developing its information and communication technology infrastructure as the driving force for the education of more people, more rapidly and the improvement of efficiency and academic quality in order to advance community and national development.