The university is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the metropolis of Aden (population range of 1,000,000-5,000,000 inhabitants).

Officially recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Yemen, the University of Aden is a coeducational Yemeni higher education institution.

When the necessity arose for the foundation of more colleges, a ministerial decree was issued to form a ministerial committee for the University Town presided over by the prime minister.

22 for 1975 was issued pertaining to the foundation of the University of Aden as a scientific establishment.

The statute determines the goals of the University of Aden as follows: In the year of its foundation, the university had already embraced the following colleges: From 1975 to 1999 a number of colleges and affiliate colleges were founded: On 29 December 2015, Islamist gunmen forced the faculties of administrative sciences, law, and engineering to close, citing unacceptable levels of gender integration.