The major foundation of what has become Chrisland University (the University arm of Chrisland Schools Limited) today was laid over forty years ago by seasoned Educationist and Administrator, High Chief Dr. (Mrs.) Winifred Awosika, OON, has a vision of imparting the educational sector positively, the institution opened its doors with only seven students. High Chief Dr. (Mrs.) Winifred Awosika, OON had always nurtured the dreams of establishing new educational levels every ten years with a vision to be at the forefront of private education in Nigeria, and have a leadership position from kindergarten to tertiary level. Her dreams were brought to life when she established the Nursery section which she started by educating not more than seven pupils in her kitchen. She however got more pupils and there was a need for expansion. In another ten years, she established the Secondary School section, and the Pre-degree College after ten years, and these sections have grown into a large citadel of learning. Chrisland Schools which was founded in 1977 remains the largest privately owned educational institution in Nigeria.

There was a slight delay as the University arm could not be established after the ten years just as the founder planned. But the dream came alive on September 17, 2015, and the University was granted a full operational license to operate as a private university in Nigeria, in the year 2019 by the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s National Universities Commission.

The University commenced with two Colleges- the College of Arts, Management, and Social Sciences, and the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. The College of Basic Medical Sciences became the third college in 2019, while the College of Law received NUC Accreditation in 2022. The incumbent Vice-Chancellor of the Institution, Prof. Mrs. Chinedum Peace Babalola, FAS, championed full accreditation of nine (9) programmes (Business Administration, Economics, Accounting, Criminology & Security Studies, Psychology, Computer Science, Political Science, Microbiology and Biochemistry) presented for the 2018 NUC Accreditation. Three programmes (Mass Communication, Banking and Finance, and International Relations) which were presented for NUC accreditation in 2021 got full accreditation also in 2021.