Middle East Technical University was founded on November 15, 1956, to contribute to the development of Türkiye and Middle East countries and especially to train people so as to create a skilled workforce in the fields of natural and social sciences. METU, as a pioneer of high-quality university education in Türkiye, introduced new methods and innovations in research to the Turkish higher education system. 

In 1956, the first academic program to start education was the Department of Architecture. Then in the spring semester of 1957, the Department of Mechanical Engineering launched its academic program. At the onset of the 1957-1958 academic year, the Faculty of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Administrative Sciences were established. In 1959, the tasks undertaken to establish the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were completed. The Faculty of Education launched its academic program in 1982. Today, there are a total of 41 undergraduate programs in five faculties of METU.

There are 107 graduate and  69 doctorate programs available in Graduate Schools of Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Informatics, Applied Mathematics and Marine Sciences Graduate Schools. Marine Sciences conducts the academic program studies at İçel-Erdemli.

As a distinguished research university, METU has been committed to excellence in science and top-quality higher education since its foundation. Today, the University is proud to employ about 791 faculty (professors, associate professors etc.), 225 academic instructors and 1.273 research assistants. It is a great pleasure to offer education to over 28.000 students. The total number of the alumni now is above 120.000.