Al Yamamah was authorized in September 2008 by the Ministry of Higher Education to operate as a private university (earlier authorized as Al Yamamah College) under the Private Universities Act. Degrees awarded by Al Yamamah University are accredited by Saudi Ministry of Higher Education and recognized by public sector as well as private sectorinstitutions.

To match the standards of professional national and international accreditation agencies, the University is now implementing a plan to acquire full accreditation of the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Academic Assessment (NCAAA).

The College of Business Administration has been a member of the International Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) since 2005 and has been working towards accreditation as per international procedures. Similarly, the College of Computing and IT (founded 2008) has started pursuing membership with ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology).