In November and December 2013, HSMC obtained accreditation from the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications for the following five programmes and was approved by the Education Bureau to offer degree programmes:[5] On 30 October 2018, the Chief Executive-in-Council approved the retitling of Hang Seng Management College into a university under Section 8(1) of the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance,[6] following an institutional review by the HKCAAVQ.

[7] The Chief Executive in Council approved the university status of Hang Seng Management College (HSMC) on 30 October 2018.

The HSMC is the first self-financing post-secondary education institution to acquire a university title since the publication of the revised roadmap of criteria for acquiring university title for post-secondary colleges registered under the Ordinance in 2015.

[9][10] The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong is listed the 7th (overall) in the ASEAN+ region, the 1st in the Greater China region, and the 1st in Employability as per the 2023 AppliedHE ASEAN+ private university assessment by the Singapore-based AppliedHE.

[12] The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong consists of five schools.