On April 17, 1995, the City Ordinance 7885 was enacted establishing the Dalubhasaan ng Lungsod Ng Maynila known as the City College of Manila (CCM) headed by Hon. Mayor Alfredo S. Lim, the father and founder of CCM with the support of Hon. Vice Mayor Jose L. Atienza Jr., and the City Council with Hon. Nestor C. Ponce Jr., Hon. Humberto Basco and Hon. Bernardito C. Ang as Principal Sponsors.

On April 26 of the same year, City Ordinance No. 7885 was passed into law and became operational with the main objective of providing quality education to the less privileged but intellectually deserving graduates from Public Schools of Manila.

On June 6, 2006, the Manila City Council, at its regular session enacted City Ordinance No. 8120 elevating the Dalubhasaan ng Maynila or the City College of Manila (CCM) into university and renaming it Universidad De Manila (UDM) to attune it with its present campus site at 24,000 square meter Mehan Gardens at Arroceros (now Cecilia Munoz-Palma) cor. Hospital Street (Antonio Villegas) Streets, Ermita, Manila. The new University was inaugurated by Hon. Mayor Jose L. Atienza Jr., and Hon. Juan Miguel T. Cuna on June 19, 2006.

On June 28, 2006 of the same year, City Ordinance No. 8120 was approved by his Hon. Mayor Jose L. Atienza Jr., and as such shall continue to operate in accordance with law and within the powers and limitations specified and organized as a corporation under the same name.

In 2015, the University’s College Programs was recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in compliance with the CMO 30, S. 2006 – Policies and Standards in Operating Colleges and Universities.

In January, 2020 UDM institutionalized the Learning Management System (LMS) that formed the basis of a remote blended learning platform or enriched virtual. In February 2020, Moodle App was adopted as a learning platform to provide the students, faculty members and administrators to create a new kind learning environment where students and teachers need not to see each other daily.

Prior to the Enhanced Community Quarantine on March 16, 2020, UDM has conducted training regarding Moodle App and video tutorials via the WorkPlace App and also as a source of communication among faculty and administration. During the entire duration of the quarantine period, the learning and teaching link between the students and faculty members of UDM were ongoing and students were able to comply with the different academic requirements satisfactorily. Since the start of the lockdown, there has been no disruption of the teaching and learning process in UdM.

On April 27, 2020, City Ordinance No. 8635 was enacted to amend the provisions of Ordinance No. 7885 as amended by Ordinance No. 8120, entitled “An Ordinance Amending Specific Provisions of Ordinance No. 7885, otherwise known as “An ordinance authorizing the City Government of Manila to operate the Dalubhasaan ng Maynila (City College of Manila) and for such other purpose”, enacted on April 17, 1995”. This Ordinance treated UDM as an independent and institutional department of the City of Manila.

From tertiary courses, the University has expanded with other program offerings – the Institute of Graduate and Professional Studies (IGPS), the College of Law (CoL), the Center for Micro-credentialing and Industry Training (CMIT), and the Senior High School (SHS).