The first university in Macau, the University of East Asia commenced operation in September 1981, which has signified that higher education in Macao entered a new stage.

In February 1988, the University of East Asia was restructured to become a public university, renamed as University of Macau. Programs previously offered by the Open College and Graduate Collage of the University of East Asia were handled by a new East Asia Open Institute. To cope with the stability and development of the society, the East Asia Open Institute form a new university - the Asia International Open University (Macau), with the approval of the Macau Government in 1992.

On February 2011, the University has changed its name to City University of Macau (Portuguese name is Universidade da Cidade de Macau) as approved by the Macau SAR Government. The current rector is Professor Yan Zexian.

The University has educated right smart senior management personnel in many sectors for Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China and Southeast Asia.