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.

The University has expanded with other program offerings – Institute of Graduate and Professional Studies (IGPS), College of Law (CoL), Center for Microcredentialing and Industry Training (CMIT), and Senior High School (SHS).