The National Economics University was established by the Decree No. 678-TTg of the Prime Minister dated January 25, 1956. The forerunner of the National Economics University was the College of Finance and Economics which operated within the Vietnam People's University System under the Prime Minister's Palace.

        On May 22, 1958, the name of the University was changed into the University of Finance and Economics by the Decree No. 252-TTg of the Prime Minister of the same day. It was under the management of the then Ministry of Education.

        In January 1965, the University was renamed the University of Economics and Planning.

        On October 22, 1985 the Minister of Higher and Secondary Vocational Education renamed the University "National Economics University" by the Decision No. 1443/Q§-KH. Since then, it was recognized as one of the leading universities in Vietnam.

        Within the span of a half of a century of its establishment and development, it has recorded a lot of great achievements and received many noble titles awarded by the Party and the Government, namely the Labor Order of the third class for the period of 1961-1972, the second class in 1978, the first class in 1983, the Independence Order of the third class in 1986, the second class in 1991, and the first class in 1996, the title of Labor Hero in 2000, and the Ho Chi Minh Order in 2001, Friendship Order Of Lao People's Democratic Republic in 2008.

        International cooperation has also played a significant role in developing NEU faculty and restructuring curriculum system. With a wide range of foreign partnerships and offering many internationally standardized programs, the university has practically been considered as a center for transferring educational technologies in economics, management and business to other institutions in Vietnam.

        NEU has adopted extensive international cooperation programs in terms of training and research with many prestigious international academic institutions and organizations across continents. We have received sponsorship from many governments and international organizations such as SIDA (Sweden), UNFPA, CIDA (Canada), JICA (Japan), the Government of Netherlands, ODA (the UK), UNDP, World Bank, Ford Foundation, Hanns Seidel Foundation and others to conduct research, develop curricula, and deliver Master programmes in the fields of Economics, Business Administration, Finance, Development Economics, and intensive training courses on market economy. Meanwhile, it has had close connection with many foreign companies to organize training courses, conduct research and sponsor students.