History
| 1973 |
| Allied Health Services Training Centre — forerunner to the Faculty of Health Sciences established by the Ministry of Health. |
| 1975 |
| Vocational Training Centre established to train school leavers in mechanical and electrical trades. Later this Centre was renamed Maldives Institute for Technical Education. Presently it is the Faculty of Engineering Technology. |
| 1984 |
| Institute for Teacher Education established. Previous to this, teacher education was the responsibility of the Educational Development Centre. |
| 1987 |
| Maritime Training Centre established when Maldives ratified the IMO STCW convention. School of Hotel and Catering Services established to develop trained manpower for the tourism industry. |
| 1991 |
| Maldives Centre for Management and Administration established to train administrative staff for the public and private services. This centre was later called Institute of Management and Administration. |
| 1998 |
| Maldives College of Higher Education established to rationalize resources and assure quality of all the existing post-secondary government institutes. The College was to be administered by an interim college council drawn from the institutes and the central office. |
| 1999 |
| January 1. All institutes and centres began operating as divisions of the College. Tertiary Institute for Open Learning established to develop courses in distance education. Institute for Shar’ah and Law established. |
| 2000 |
| College launches first degree programme: Bachelor of Arts (Dhivehi Language). |
| 2001 |
| An academic career structure implemented making salaries and benefits uniform for all staff of the College. All faculties and centres named to reflect the organizational structure. College constitution approved by the Higher Education Committee. College central administrative office moves to the Jamaludhdheen Complex with sufficient space to centralize some functions previously devolved to the divisions. |
| 2011 |
| The Maldives National University Act was endorsed by the president on 17th January 2011 and subsequently the Maldives National University was established on 15th February 2011. |
| 2016 |
| The University establishes the Business Development Unit, to pave the way towards income generation as mandated in the MNU Act. Establishment of the Central Examinations Department to strengthen the conduct and organization of exams of the university. The Exams Department is headed by Controller of Examinations and the main exams of the University are now conducted by the this department. Elevation of the status of Foundation Studies to Centre status named “Centre for Foundation Studies” to strengthen the pathway feeding into various higher education programmes offered by the Faculties and Centres. Appointment of a Dean of Students as Head of Student Support Services to improve and enhance support services provided to students. |
