It opened for the 2006–07 academic year with 754 students, as one of 13 new universities started by the Ministry of Higher Education, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

[1][2] Dire Dawa University was established in 2006 with enrollment of 754 students in three facilities: (Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics, Faculty of Social Science and language and Faculty of Business and Economics) in 13 different undergraduate academic programs with 90 teachers and 103 administrative support staff operating with limited facilities.

As of 2018, the university had 1,177 academic staffs; 834 were on duty whereas 343 were in full study to leave second and third degree.

As of June 2019[update], the leadership team of Dire Dawa University comprises:

This article on an Ethiopian institution of higher education is a stub.