COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) is under the administration of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South.

[6][7] The university was established by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) in 1998, while its first charter was granted by the Government of Pakistan in August 2000.

The position of Rector remained vacant for the period of almost three years and Muhammad Tabassum Afzal[9] assumed charge as Rector in July 2020 and was tasked with leading the university after its transition from an Institute of Information Technology to a full-fledged university having a new governance structure.

[17] It has also established the country's first ever Student Startup Business Center (SSBC)[18] to support and promote entrepreneurship and innovation in its academic environment.

During the first year of its establishment, the institute offered only a few certificate courses and a postgraduate diploma in computer studies with a single classroom and limited resources.

The Abbottabad campus became functional in July 2001 through the initiative of founder director Haroon-ur-Rasheed and the first academic session started in September 2001.

The campus is built on 308 Kanals of land leased from GHQ by the Pakistan Army at Tobe Camp.

The abandoned army barracks were converted into a living campus within a short period of two months by the university team.

The then-Minister for Science and Technology and Chancellor of the university formally inaugurated the institute on 14 September 2001.

In 2003, two purpose-built academic blocks were handed over to the university on a long-term lease period by the POF.

The campus has also acquired 20 Acres of land near Brahma Bahtar Interchange on the M1 motorway to meet its future academic requirements.

The campus was established in offices, laboratories, and studios located in Islamabad having approximately 20,000 sq.

State-of-the-art servers, dedicated PERN (Pakistan Educational Research Network) bandwidth, as well as the latest audiovisual equipment, was acquired to set up laboratories, studios, and a data center.