Located in the outskirts of Mandalay in Amarapura by Taungthaman Lake, the university offers bachelor's and master's degree programs in liberal arts and sciences, mostly to students from Mandalay suburbs and vicinity.

All arts and science universities in Myanmar, attended by the bulk of the university students, were closed down from December 1996 to July 2000, following student demonstrations in Yangon.

It also taking part in Student Strike of National Education Law in 2015.

Before the coup YDNBUSU is mostly work for internal university activities and student rights.

Its regular Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BSc) degrees take four years to complete and honors degree programs BA (Hons) and BSc (Hons) take one years.