MEF University was established in 2012 by the İbrahim Arıkan Educational and Scientific Research Support Foundation as a continuation of the contribution of MEF Educational Institutions to the quality and internationalization of Turkish education system at the tertiary level. The mission of MEF University is to graduate internationally competitive, forward-thinking students and to bring together research-oriented, leading scholars who will make globally significant contribution to science and technology. At the pedagogical side, MEF will be the first university worldwide to use the technology-enhanced Flipped Learning method across the university. MEF University's strategy for global engagement is based on the concept of transnational education and multidimensionality.
 
All academic programs at MEF University have been designed in accordance to the requirements of the Bologna Process. The ECTS is the internal and only credit allocation system. For each academic program, the learning outcomes been defined in accordance to the European and Turkish national Qualification Frameworks and in strict adherence to international accreditation standards, e.g. ABET for engineering, AACSB and EQUIS in business education. It is the aim of MEF University to have all of its academic programs internationally accredited. Furthermore, all program objectives; outcomes and curriculum structures have been benchmarked to the top global institutions in the respective field.