Its founding in the year 2000 was a significant milestone in the history of Palestinian higher education; as the first private university in the West Bank, its goal is to provide world-class academic programs tailored to the needs of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students.

Over the years, the university has earned a reputation for its dedication to academic excellence, research, and community service.

[citation needed] AAUP's main campus is located near Talfit in the southern Jenin Governorate.

The university has also expanded its presence to Al-Reehan in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, enabling broader accessibility and fostering regional development.

[2] Jenin governorate was chosen to be the place for the main campus of AAUP since the northern part of the West Bank was missing a higher educational institution and especially because Jenin is located near the Arab cities and villages of the green line territories.

[citation needed] The academic programmes in AASUP started under collaboration with California State University (CSU) in Stanislaus, which helped with the curriculum, and Utah State University (USU) in Logan, which provided faculty members and staff during the first years.

And currently, AAUP provides over 40 programmes in BA, high diploma, MA, and PhD degrees.

[citation needed] The faculty of sciences offers programs that enable students to get their BA degree in many academic specializations.

Engineer Zuhair Hijjawi Award This annual award with an amount of US$10.000 targets undergraduate creative students and is granted for the best scientific research in one of the following fields: Information Technology, Engineering, Environment, Water and Renewable Energy Sciences and the Basic Sciences.