The COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) was established in 1998, as COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CII), as a project of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), which is an inter-governmental organization with 27 member states in three continents. Then, CIIT had the status of a public sector degree awarding higher education institution and was given charter by the Federal Government in August 2000. Later, CIIT has been upgraded to a Federally Chartered University in April 2018 under the COMSATS University Islamabad Act 2018.
CUI Virtual campus is started in 2012 to enhance the coverage of quality higher education in the country by providing opportunities to those who could not attend universities because of inflexible timings, cost, or cultural barriers. CUI Virtual Campus will reach those people by offering sophisticated Distance Learning education programs in Pakistan.