Azerbaijan University was established in 1991. The predecessor of the University, the Higher Humanitarian College, was established on July 16 of that year by the order of the Minister of Public Education, and the general meeting of the Higher Humanitarian College decided to operate as a private Azerbaijan University in January 1993.
As per the decisions of the State Higher Expert Commission of the Azerbaijan University (DAEK) dated March 3, 1993 and the Board of the Ministry of Education dated April 8, 1993, the private Azerbaijan University was registered, admitted to the State Register No. 01 and it was issued a certificate.
After the establishment of the new DAEK in September 1994, the activity of the Azerbaijan University was licensed by the Ministry of Education on the basis of the opinion of the commission. According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan No. 72 of March 4, 1995, according to the opinion of the State Higher Expert Commission under the Cabinet of Ministers, the non-state Azerbaijan University, including a secondary college and an English-language gymnasium, was registered with the state.
According to the decision of the Accreditation Commission of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, it was re-accredited as a higher education institution by the order No. 213 dated February 24, 2009.
The term of the special permit issued by the order of the Minister of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan No. 929 dated July 10, 2009 has been extended for another 5 years.
On February 24, 2016, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan permitted “Azerbaijan University” Limited Liability Company to continue its higher education activities indefinitely.
Azerbaijan University was accredited by the Ministry of Education Accreditation Council of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 5 (five) years, as private higher education institution under the order of the Ministry dated July 20, 2018, F-520
- Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Corresponding Member of ANAS Salahaddin Khalilov from 1991 to 2006;
- Doctor of pedagogical sciences, professor Farahim Sadigov in 2006-2007;
- Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of ANAS, Head of the Department of Mathematical Support of Economic Research of the Institute of Economics of ANAS Akif Musayev in 2007-2011;
- Writer-dramatist, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, associate professor Aslan Gahramanli in 2011-2012;
- MP of the II convocation of the Natinal Assembly, candidate of economic sciences Eldar Gahramanov in 2012-2015;
- Doctor of Philosophy in Law Farid Ahmadov in 2015-2017served as Rector of Azerbaijan University.
- On March 13, 2017, Saadat Aliyeva was appointed Rector of Azerbaijan University.
In 1997, the admission of students for the master's degree began. Since 2003, doctoral students and dissertators have been trained under the Doctor of Philosophy program.
Azerbaijan University has been operating since 2006 in accordance with the requirements of the Bologna Declaration. The organization of education and student assessment have been adapted to the requirements of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
Azerbaijan University was declared a pilot university in 2009 by the Ministry of Education on the application of the credit-multipoint system.
Azerbaijan University has 3 faculties, 6 departments. The teaching process of masters, doctoral students and dissertators is organized by the International Center for Master's and Doctoral Studies. There are 24 admissions for bachelor's degree, 23 for master's degree, including MBA, 8 for doctoral program and 9 for dissertation. The staff of the university is 258 people. The number of students is 2235.
Starting its first academic year with 71 students, Azerbaijan University issued its first graduates in 1995, and in the first graduation of the university, 52 graduates received bachelor's degrees. In general, 5160 people graduated from the bachelor's degree during 1995-2023 and 828 people graduated from the master's degree during 1999-2023.
Currently, the teaching language is Azerbaijani and English. A one-year language training program is available for students enrolled in English-language majors.
Azerbaijan University is a member of Erasmus +, Mevlana, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) international exchange programs. The Erasmus + program provides students with short-term study opportunities at leading universities in Turkey and Europe. The Mevlana program facilitates academic exchanges with Turkish universities and the DAAD with German universities.
The University has been approved as the official Accredited Testing Center of the European Computer Driving License (ECDL) in Azerbaijan, which certifies computer skills at the international level and as an examination sub-center of the PTE (Pearson Test of English) program, which confirms English language skills at the international level.
In 2019, the International Dual Diploma Program was established jointly with the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics of Ukraine. The program covers undergraduate and graduate programs in computer science and computer engineering. In 2021, a joint training and research laboratory on information security of Azerbaijan University and Kharkiv National Radio Electronics University was established as a new direction of cooperation.
Starting from 2019, the University has an Intra-University Double Diploma (UDID) Program, where students can receive 2 diplomas in 2 different specialties in 4 years.
Teaching and management at the University of Azerbaijan, which received the ISO 9001: 2015 “Quality Management System” certificate in 2019, is organized on the basis of international standards.
Rector of the University Saadat Aliyeva was awarded the Jubilee Medal of the Republic of Azerbaijan “100th Anniversary of Baku State University (1919-2019)” in 2019 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Baku State University and high achievements in science and education by the order of the Minister of Education. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary and for her effective scientific and pedagogical activity in the training of highly qualified personnel, she was awarded the badge "Advanced Education Worker of the Republic of Azerbaijan".