Middle East Technical University is founded under the name of "Orta Doğu Yüksek Teknoloji Enstitüsü" (Middle East High Technology Institute) 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. "Arrangements and Procedures as for the Foundation of METU, Law No 6887" was enacted on January 29, 1957. Finally, "Foundation Act No 7307", which sets forth the particular standing of METU and describes the conditions rendering METU as a juridical entity, was enacted on May 27, 1959.

METU as a pioneer of high quality university education in Türkiye, introduced new methods and innovations in research to Turkish higher education system. In its earliest years, part of METU was located in a small building that belonged Social Security Office of Retirees at Kizilay's Müdafaa Street and the other section was located in the barracks behind the TBMM (Türkiye's National Grand Assembly). In 1963, the University moved to its current campus location which is the first university campus of Türkiye.

In 1956, the first academic program to start education was the Department of Architecture. Then in spring semester of 1957, Department of Mechanical Engineering launched its academic program. At the onset of 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 Faculty of Arts and Sciences were completed. 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.

The language of instruction at METU is English. METU School of Foreign Languages takes the initiative to teach English to students at Preparatory School.

As a distinguished research university, METU has been commited to excellence in science and top-quality higher education since its foundation. Today, the University is proud to employ about 791 faculty (professors, associates 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.

• 28000+ students (of which 8250+ are graduate students) with a female/male ratio of 44/56.
• Availability of a variety of major, minor and double-major programs and a wide spectrum of interdisciplinary graduate programs:

• 5 faculties offering 43 undergraduate degree programs and 5 graduate schools offering 107 masters and 69 Ph.D. programs offered at METU Ankara Campus.
• 15 undergraduate and 5 graduate programs at METU Northern Cyprus Campus.
• 6 graduate programs at METU Erdemli Campus housing our Institute of Marine Sciences (on the Mediterranean coastline).
• Majority of METU undergraduate students received from the top 1% of 2,000,000+ applicants annually taking the National University Entrance Examination.
• 1250 world-class full-time faculty members (with %70 of all having earned their Ph.D. degrees from reputable universities abroad) and 1350 additional research staff.
• More than 130,000 alumni organized under 40 (18 national and 22 international) alumni associations around the globe.
• Pioneering university with numerous firsts in its history (first internet provider of Türkiye, first campus abroad, first Faculty Development Program, etc.)
• METU is Türkiye's premier state university rated among the top world universities in several fields/rankings (i.e. QS, Times Higher Education, Webometrics, Shanghai, etc.) over the years (THE “World University Rankings 2014-2015” rank 85^th among top 400 universities; Top 100 Universities by Reputation).
•  In QS, METU repeatedly ranks among top universities in the world in 15 subject areas under engineering and technology, basic sciences, and social sciences.
• English as the only language of instruction in all its degree programs.