Bilkent University was founded on October 20, 1984 by İhsan Doğramacı with the aim of establishing a center of excellence in higher education and research. Consistent with this aim, the university has attracted highest ranking students in the country, and very productive faculty.

The faculty is comprised of an academic staff from 43 different countries. Most of them were working in prominent universities in North America and Europe when they received offers from Bilkent University. According to ISI Citation Indexes, Bilkent continues to be first in Turkey in number of published papers per faculty member and ranks high internationally.

The medium of instruction in the University is English, i.e., all verbal and written classwork, assignments, and practical work is carried out in English. (The only exceptions to this are the language courses, and the courses on Turkish Law in the Faculty of Law.)

Bilkent University has an excellent educational infrastructure, including a modern library and extensive computer facilities with a private satellite Internet connection to the United States.

To promote the enrichment of teaching and research programs, Bilkent University entered into collaborative projects and exchange programs with many universities abroad. Bilkent has student exchange agreements with the University of California system, Purdue, Johns Hopkins, University of Maine, University of Rhode Island, University of Texas at Austin, University of Missouri, Bowling Green State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Carthage College, Franklin and Marshall College in the US; University of Laval and McGill University in Canada; Odense University in Denmark; University of Alicante in Spain; and Tel-Aviv University in Israel. Bilkent is a member of NIBES (Network of International Business and Economic Schools) and exchange programs are established with Pforzheim University in Germany and the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Clarmont and the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lille of France. Bilkent is also a member of the EMSPS (European Mobility Scheme for Physics Students), an exchange program coordinated by the European Physical Society.

The university also has a communications office at Empire State Building 350 5th Ave. Ste. 5604 New York, NY 10118, equipped with interactive video conferencing capabilities. A number of courses are delivered through this office via satellite connection.