The Ministry of Education admits qualified students to AAU based on their score on the Ethiopian University Entrance Examination (EUEE).

The origins of AAU was a two-year college on 20 March 1950 by the Jesuit Lucien Matte, at the appeal of His Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I.

Emperor Haile Selassie I gave his Guenete Leul Palace to serve as the administration building and main campus.

In 1977, Duri Mohammed was appointed president of AAU, under his leadership the academy was preserved and even saw its resurgence despite the turbulent times amid the Ethiopian inserruction.

[12][13] Over and above their academic pursuits, AAU students have been actively engaged in community service (such as conducting literacy programs) and political struggle, particularly in the years before the 1974 revolution.

[6] The Ethiopian Student Movement, of which the university was the birthplace and main venue, played a pivotal role in bringing about the revolution.