The university currently has nine main schools offering courses in business, science, engineering, liberal arts and social sciences, law, and veterinary medicine, along with the Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies, CityU Shenzhen Research Institute, and Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study.

In 1982, Executive Council member Chung Sze-yuen spoke of a general consensus that "a second polytechnic of similar size to the first should be built as soon as possible.

"[7] District administrators from Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan lobbied the government to build the new institution in their respective new towns.

[7] The government instead purchased temporary premises at the new Argyle Centre Tower II in Mong Kok, a property developed by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation in concert with the then-Argyle station.

The new school was called City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, a name chosen among nearly 300 suggestions made by members of the public.

[9] A tract of land on the former site of a village named Chu Koo Chai [yue] was chosen for the new campus.

[10] The architectural contract to design the campus was won by Percy Thomas Partnership in association with Alan Fitch and W.N.

[15] In September 2024, CityU (Dongguan) was opened, the campus is located in the Songshan Lake High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Science City).

[citation needed] City University of Hong Kong occupies an urban campus located in Kowloon.

[34] The university's teaching units are grouped under 10 colleges and schools, offering over 150 postgraduate, undergraduate taught programmes.

Most halls are named after donors:[48] Construction work for the 5th phase of the Student Hostel project at Whitehead, Ma On Shan commenced in March 2022.

Students and alumni launched a petition against the decision while faculty and noted international writers issued an open letter questioning the reasoning behind the closure.

[69] Canadian novelist and faculty member Madeleine Thien, writing in The Guardian, was among those who attributed the decision to censorship and diminishing freedom of expression in Hong Kong.

[72] CityU did not seek separate advice from an independent surveyor to conduct feasibility studies and designs before tendering out the project to consultants or contractors.

A report by CityU's investigation committee concluded that the surveyor of the green roof project was to be held liable for the collapse despite his repeated denial of involvement in the works.

[73] It was reported that CityU vice-president Sunny Lee Wai-kwong (who oversaw the Campus Development and Facilities Office) escaped liability while technical staff would face disciplinary action.

[73] In 2017, CityU was accused of providing misleading information to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) to boost its university rankings.

[76] On 20 October 2018, National Judges College under the Supreme People's Court of China uploaded an article to its website about a meeting held by "provisional branches of the Chinese Communist Party" at CityU.

Pro-Beijing legislator Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, an associate law professor at CityU, refused to comment, claiming that she was not aware of the arrangement.

[79] Pro-democracy group Frontline Technology Workers pointed out that the presentations were relevant to the course although it was touching the social taboo.

On 30 November, CityU reopened the campus but staff and students were required to present their identity cards to gain entry.

The Student Union quoted an earlier questionnaire survey conducted by CityU Staff Association, stating that most of the respondents agreed that "university campuses should be opened to the public."