Higher education in the world is part of the result from the process of developing civilization which continues to develop so that universities are expected to be able to carry out a strategic role in advancing civilization and the welfare of society. The main mission of higher education is to look for, discover, disseminate, and uphold the truth. In order to achive this mission, the Tridharma of Higher Education must be implemented based on academic freedom and scientific autonomy.

The basis for the preparation of regulations and operational procedures in ITS is adjusted to the Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 54 of 2015 concerning the Statutes of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember. ITS, as one of the prestigious universities in Surabaya, has a duty in law to manage academic and non-academic fields autonomously. ITS itself carries out higher education autonomy in the fields of education, research, community service and any other fields in accordance with statutory provisions.

ITS has the function to organize higher education which consists of academic education, vocational education, and professional education. To carry out these functions, ITS implements the task of developing or forming human abilities, characters, and personalities as follows:

1. Education to master and apply science, technology, and art as well as disseminate the noble values;
2. Research to discover and solve problems, besides develop, adopt, or adapt science, technology, and art;
3. Community service to apply science, technology, and art in the framework of community empowerment.