The Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) first opened its doors on January 13, 1960, with a National Institute of Judicial and Economic Studies, a Royal School of Medicine, a National School of Commerce, a National Pedagogical Institute, a Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, and a Faculty of Science and Technology, but it was completely closed during the Khmer Rouge period (1975-1979). It was re-opened on 13 May, 1980 and within the last three decades, the University has continued to grow and expand.

Today, the RUPP is the largest and oldest public university in Cambodia, which provides degrees in both undergraduates and postgraduates in many areas: sciences, social sciences and humanities, development studies, education, engineering and foreign languages. It also has two centers – Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Center (CJCC) and Cambodia-Korea Cooperation Center (CKCC). Due to its first and foremost productions of qualified graduates for the whole Cambodian nation, RUPP has become a full memberships of ASEAN University Network (AUN) since 1999 and a member of Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) from 2015.

RUPP has significantly contributed to development of human resources for many sectors, especially to training of teacher candidates for high schools and other public servant candidates. Under the current trends, Cambodia has been integrated in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) since 2015, the roles of RUPP in furthering its scopes and heights in teaching, research and community services are to be improved and strengthened accordingly.