The students (if employed) spent two-fifths of the academic program in the school and three-fifths in the Abadan Refinery (Persian: پالايشگاه آبادان Pālāyeshgāh-e Ābādān) as trainees.

The curriculum was approved by National Iranian Oil Company and 79 students out of several thousand applicants were selected based on written test and interview.

By then, the educational program focused on the general engineering major; admissions were given to fourth grade high school students after passing an entry test and interviews.

[1] After the Iran–Iraq War, in 1989, the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education granted permission to found the Petroleum University of Technology.

[1] As of 2015, the Petroleum University of Technology consists of four faculties in cities that offer 13 undergraduate, 11 graduate and three doctorate programs: The university has four research centers: PUT programs:[5] The priorities of the PUT are maintaining the resources of oil and gas in the country and training manpower for the development and exploitation of these resources.