The establishment history of Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia started off on September 16, 1993. The university was formerly known as Pusat Latihan Staf Politeknik (PLSP). The core business of PLSP then was to train and produce polytechnics academic staff to become knowledgeable and skilful in various engineering fields. The training institute was jointly administered by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Ministry of Education Malaysia.

Three years later, PLSP was upgraded to Institut Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (ITTHO). Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak who was then the Minister of Education made the official announcement of the new status on April 12, 1996. This promotion is an acknowledgment to the institution that has excelled in producing human resources for technical education. 

On September 27, 2000, the institute achieved another milestone when the Malaysian government agreed to award a university-college status to the institute. This was to recognise its contributions in science and technology-based development as well as in helping the nation to achieve its aspiration. With the new status, the institution was known as Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (KUiTTHO) and the official announcement was made by Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Musa bin Mohamed, the then Minister of Education. KUiTTHO continued to grow and progress, producing graduates who are skilful, knowledgeable and competitive. Consequently, the Malaysian government, on September 20, 2006, agreed to honour University College a full university status and changed its name to Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. On February 1, 2007, Datuk Mustapha Mohamed, the Minister of Higher Education officially announced the change of status. Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein Onn then made the official declaration of the change of name on March 2, 2007.