The University of Zakho dates back to the year 2005 and within the framework of the directives and concerns of His Excellency Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and Mr. Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, made a decision to lay the foundation stone of the College of Education and the College of Commerce (during the fifth cabinet) in a university campus in Zakho, which at that time officially belonged to the University of Duhok. However, during the opening ceremony of both colleges in Zakho, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government mentioned in his speech that this would be the basis for a prospective independent university in Zakho. In the academic year 2005/2006 students have been accepted at the two colleges mentioned above.
