The university was founded in 1950 and offers programs for undergraduate, post-graduate, and doctoral studies. With approximately 14,000 enrolled students attending the university, it has six academic faculties with forty postgraduate department as well as two "centers of excellence" The university is known for its research in social, medical, and natural sciences having eight research centers located inside the campus. Spread over an area of as a residential campus, the university is the first public university to be established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.