Established in 1950 as a Junior College of English, Tamkang first offered a two-year program and then a three-year program. It was not until 1958 that Tamkang, after it was reinstituted as a College of Arts and Sciences, awarded bachelor's degrees to its graduates. In 1980, Tamkang was elevated to the university status.

After more than fifty years of growth, Tamkang University has developed from a Junior College of English into a comprehensive university. Today, Tamkang University has 11 colleges comprising 47 departments and divisions, 50 master’s programs, and 17 doctoral programs. The total student enrollment is 27,845, and the number of faculty and staff members is 2,181. Now, Tamkang University has four campuses: the Tamsui Campus, the Taipei Campus, the Lanyang Campus, and the Cyber Campus. The third campus, the Lanyang Campus in I-lan County, has been recruiting new students since 2005. Also, by using information technology and the Internet, Tamkang University's Cyber Campus has set up various learning environments; not only has Tamkang University exchanged courses with those of other universities in Taiwan, it has also teamed up with universities abroad to have online cooperation programs. Meanwhile, world renowned professors are invited to teach online at Tamkang's Cyber Campus.

During its development, Tamkang University has been undergoing a series of major innovations both academically and administratively: from a "Quantity Equals Quality" approach to one emphasizing "Quality over Quantity," through the policy of "Globalization, Information-oriented Education and Future-oriented Education, "and on to the "Tamkang's Third Wave," Total Quality Management, and the "S" Curve. Currently, Tamkang University is on to its "Fourth Wave" to fulfill not only its role as a regional comprehensive research university, but also its final goal of "pursuing excellence and proceeding to a high quality comprehensive university." Since its inception as a university, Tamkang University has had six scholar-educators serving as President: Clement C. P. Chang, Yea-hong Chen, Louis R. Chow, Yun-shan Lin, Horng-jinh Chang, and the current President Flora C.I. Chang, who has assumed presidency since August 1, 2004. Among them, Dr. Clement C. P. Chang, also Founder of this University, has made the greatest contribution to Tamkang University. He is currently re-engineering the "Second Sigmoid Curve," leading the university in the new millennium to become a global "academic kingdom."