It was established upon initiative of OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities Max van der Stoel and is located in Tetovo, North Macedonia, with a branch campus in Skopje.

[6] In the early 1990s, Dutch diplomat Max van der Stoel, who was then OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities, became involved in efforts to resolve the issue of Albanian-language study at the university level, between Macedonian and Albanian political leaders.

With Van der Stoel's efforts, a compromise solution was reached between Macedonian and Albanian political leaders.

On 25 July 2000, under recommendations of OSCE, the Macedonian parliament adopted a Law on Higher Education, which permitted the establishment of private universities in the languages of the minorities.

[8][9] South East European University (SEEU) offers degrees at bachelor, master and doctorate levels in several areas of study.