The Institute of Management and Information Technology was established in 1998. Sarwar Jahan and Ishrat Jahan obtained approval in 2002 from the Ministry of Education to elevate the institute to a private university, named Southern University Bangladesh. Academic activities began in January 2003. In October 2004, a blue-ribbon panel formed by the education ministry and headed by M. Asaduzzaman, Chairman of the UGC, recommended shutting down Southern University and seven other private universities because they violated the Private University Act, 1992. A judicial body formed to follow up on the allegations against the private universities reiterated in January 2005 the recommendation to close Southern University. The Daily Star reported in 2006 that the university had opened branch campuses in Dhaka, Jessore, and Rangpur without the approval of the UGC. A decade later, the number of illegal campuses it was operating had grown to seven, in Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Kushtia, and Rangpur. The university had been approved in 2002 on the condition that they establish a permanent campus within five years. By December 2010, the university had purchased sufficient land for a campus, but had not yet begun construction. The education ministry threatened not to allow them to enroll new students unless they moved to their own campus by September 2011. Deadlines were extended four times, and by 2017 construction was underway. In 2014, the Dhaka Tribune described the university's board of trustees as "driven by conflict". Two court cases involving rival factions on the board were still pending in 2018. Starting in 2014, the UGC repeatedly warned students that Southern University was operating without approval, and they should be cautious about enrolling at such "crisis-torn universities". Their degrees might not be recognized, and the UGC and education ministry would not accept responsibility if students got into difficulties.