The University of Zakho was announced as an independent university on July, 2010. Before this date, there were two colleges, namely, Education and Commerce which were affiliated to the University of Duhok. The UoZ along with another three new universities were founded following the resolution made by the Parliament of Kurdistan Regional Government to address the increased demand for higher education studies in the region.

Once the university has been nominated, the colleges of Education and Commerce were reorganized into two faculties, namely, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities.