The school traces its roots back to the Garowe School of Management, a women's school in Garowe offering courses in accounting, computer skills, business English and business management. After a year of operation, which saw the graduation of 60 women, the school was expanded to a two-year structure and renamed to Puntland Community College. In 2004, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program and USIU Nairobi, PCC was expanded to include four-year programs. It was also renamed to Puntland State University (PSU). First PSU campus was constructed in July 2001 with funds generated from Somali Diaspora (USA), and Diakonia – Sweden, through a fund raising campaign. From 2nd to 18th October, 2004, fresh admissions for the University study were conducted. PSU had a two-tier fresh registration process with the main fresh students coming from Puntland secondary schools directly admitted to degree programs. Students from the Informal Education systems and poor performing students from high schools were enrolled on a One year Pre-University Certificate program which prepared them for University Education.