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First Private University

Azerbaijan University, laying the foundation of private higher education in Azerbaijan, was founded in 1991. The higher Humanitarian College, the predecessor of the University, was established on July 16 of the same year by the Order of the Minister of Public Education and the General Assembly of the Higher Humanitarian College. The College started to operate as a private Azerbaijan University in January 1993.

Azerbaijan University was registered as a private Azerbaijan University by the Decisions of the State Higher Expert Commission (SHEC) dated March 3, 1993, and of the Collegium of the Ministry of Education dated April 8, 1993, entered into the State Register No. 01, and issued a certificate.

After the establishment of the new State Supreme Expert Commission in September 1994, Azerbaijan University got a license from the Ministry of Education based on the opinion of the Commission. Private Azerbaijan University, which comprised a secondary vocational college and an English-speaking gymnasium entered into state registration based on the decision of the State Supreme Expert Commission by Decision No. 72 dated March 4, 1995, of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan University was re-accredited as a higher education institution according to the decision of the Accreditation Commission of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan by order No. 213 dated February 24, 2009.

The term of the special approval granted the activity of the university by Order No. 929 of the Minister of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated July 10, 2009, was extended for another five years.

The Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan on February 24, 2016, allowed "Azerbaijan University" Limited Liability Company to continue higher education activities indefinitely.

The University was re-accredited as the first private higher education institution for 5 (five) years according to the decision of the Accreditation Council of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, by order No. F-520 dated July 20, 2018.

  • 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 Assurance of Economic Research of the Institute of Economics of ANAS Akif Musayev in 2007-2011;
  • Writer-playwright, candidate of physics-mathematical sciences, associate professor Aslan Kahramanli in 2011-2012; 
  • Deputy of the second term of the Milli Majlis, candidate of economic sciences Eldar Kahramanov in 2012-2015; 
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Law Farid Ahmadov served as rector of Azerbaijan University from 2015-2017.
  • On March 13, 2017, Saadat Aliyeva was appointed as the rector of Azerbaijan University.

In 1997, admission to the university's master's degree started. Since 2003, doctoral and dissertation training are carried out in the Ph.D. program.

Since 2006 Azerbaijan University has been operating based on the requirements of the Bologna Declaration. The organization of teaching and the assessment of students are adapted to the requirements of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

Azerbaijan University was declared a pilot higher education institution in 2009 by the Ministry of Education for the implementation of the credit-multiple-point system.

Currently, 3 faculties, 7 departments, and 6 centers are operating at Azerbaijan University. The International Magistrate and Doctoral Center organizes the teaching process of graduate and doctoral students. The dissertation admission is conducted over specialty and direction of 24 to the undergraduate level, 23, including MBA to master’s degree, 8 to doctoral studies in the Ph.D. program, and 9 to the dissertation. The academics of the university is 258 people. The number of students is 3230.

Azerbaijan University, which started its first academic year with 71 students, had its first graduates in 1995, and 52 graduates received bachelor's degrees in the first graduation of the university. In total, 5160 people graduated at the bachelor's level between 1995-2023 years, and 828 graduates get their master’s degree from 1999-2023.

Currently, teaching is conducted in Azerbaijani and English languages. One year language program is applied to students admitted to majors taught in English.

Azerbaijan University is a member of international exchange programs "Erasmus+", "Mevlana", and DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). The "Erasmus+" program provides students with the opportunity to study at leading universities of Türkiye and Europe for a short period. "Mevlana" program provides conditions for academic exchange with Turkish universities, and DAAD with German universities.

The university has been approved as an official Accredited Test Center in Azerbaijan for the ECDL certificate program (European Computer Driving Licence), which certifies computer knowledge at the international level. At the same time, an examination sub-center of the PTE (Pearson Test of English) program, conducts certificated exams on English language skills at the international level.

In 2019, the International Dual Diploma Program was established jointly with the Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics of Ukraine. Within the framework of the program, personnel training in the field of computer engineering is carried out at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2021, a joint teaching-research laboratory on information security of Azerbaijan University and Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics was established as a new direction of cooperation.

Starting from 2019, the University has been operating the Intra-University Two Diploma Program (IUTDP), where students can receive 2 diplomas in 2 different specialties in 4 years.

Teaching and management at Azerbaijan University, which received the ISO 9001:2015 "Quality Management System" certificate in 2019, is organized based on international standards.

By order of the Minister of Education, the Rector of the university Saadat Aliyeva was awarded "100th Anniversary of Baku State University (1919-2019) Jubilee Medal of Azerbaijan Republic" in 2019 for her achievements in the field of science and education, and in 2021 she was awarded the "Advanced Education Worker of the Republic of Azerbaijan" badge on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan University and for effective scientific and pedagogical activity in training highly qualified personnel.