Established in 1968 as the Chittagong Engineering College and gained University status in 1986, this university is a state funded institution, maintaining special emphasis on teaching and research of engineering, technology, architecture and planning under five faculties and seventeen academic departments.

It is in the Pahartali union under Raozan sub-district, by the north side of the Chittagong–Kaptai highway about 20 kilometers from the center of Chittagong.

[7] At present, the university is a fully autonomous statutory organization of the Government of Bangladesh which awards degrees itself to the graduates.

Facilities include academic buildings, administration building, auditorium, library, computer center, teachers-students center, ICT Business incubator, workshops, research laboratories, halls of residence, teachers' quarter, canteens and central mosque.

The university has inside its boundaries a bank, a post office, three canteens, two galleries for holding conference, a two-storied central mosque having a floor area of 560 square meters, and two mini-mart for general needs.

The university runs its own regular bus service to and from the city for benefit of the students residing there, every office day.

The university provides facilities for football, hockey, cricket, volleyball, basketball, table tennis etc.

For promoting research, the university established a distinct institute namely 'Research and Extension'.

Students can clear any backlog or incomplete courses in the Short Term exam.

After completion of higher secondary education or A level, a student can submit her or his application for undergraduate admission if he/she fulfills the minimum requirements.

The screening process used to allow 10,000 students to sit for the admission test, based on the cumulative sum of grade points in these four subjects.

[13] From 2020, three public engineering universities in Bangladesh, CUET along with KUET and RUET took a combined admission test to select students for all three of them.

For admission to Masters and Postgraduate programs, candidates are required to appear in interviews and/or written tests.

[14] The Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) established an ICT business incubator inside Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology.

[15] 25 acres of land was provided to the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and BHTPA inside the university campus by CUET authority.