USAB was founded in 2003. In July 2010, students protesting against value-added tax on tuition blockaded the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway near the university's temporary campus in the Banai neighborhood of Dhaka. Unable to negotiate an end to the conflict, police baton charged the protesters and fired tear gas to clear the road. Students threw brick bats at the police and vandalised vehicles. A University Grants Commission (UGC) team made a surprise inspection of the university in August 2016. They did not find the vice-chancellor, pro-vice-chancellor, or treasurer on campus. The board of trustees was not formed in accordance with the rules, there was a lack of senior teachers, research was not being performed, and needy students and children of freedom fighters were not being admitted in line with their quotas. In November, the UGC recommended that the Education Ministry cancel the university's temporary approval. The Private Universities Act 2010 allows at most one-third of the instructors at a university to be part-time. In 2017, more than two-thirds were part time. As of August 2022, the university had only one full professor, the remaining instructors being assistant professors or lecturers. According to the UGC, the university carried out no research in 2017 or 2018. By 2018, the university had 4 faculties with a total of 17 departments, and enrollment was 2900. Approximately 70% of students were pursuing degrees in engineering and technology, 15% in business, and 8% in science. About one tenth of the students were female. It moved to its permanent campus in Savar Upazila in 2022.