The first teacher training center in Malaya was originally located in Taiping and was known as the Matang Teacher Training College. Opened in 1913, the house of the Malay noble of Taiping, Ngah Ibrahim served as the first teacher training college in Malaya until it was shifted to Tanjung Malim nine years later and given the name of the Sultan of Perak at that time. The history of UPSI as we know it today dates to 1922 when the university was then known as the Sultan Idris Training College (SITC). It was set mooted by the deputy director of Malay schools, R.O. Winstedt as a training college for Malay teachers. Named after the late Sultan Idris Murshidul Azam Shah, the 28th Sultan of Perak, the college was opened on 29 November 1922 by the chief secretary of the Federated Malay States, Sir George Maxwell.

The initial instructional regime required students to complete a three-year course of training where traditional skills and arithmetic were taught. With the adoption of the Education Ordinance 1957 based on the recommendations of the 1956 Education Committee Report (better known as the Razak Report), the training course was extended to five years and new subjects were introduced. SITC also came to be officially known by its Malay name, Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris (English: Sultan Idris Teachers College) or MPSI.

In 1976, MPSI became co-educational with the admission of the first batch of 150 female students. In 1987, MPSI was upgraded and renamed Institut Perguruan Sultan Idris (English: Sultan Idris Teachers Institute) or IPSI and new courses were made available leading to a degree conferred by Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (today known as Universiti Putra Malaysia). In 1997, IPSI was upgraded into the present-day university and renamed Sultan Idris Education University.^[2]

UPSI has two campuses, the Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah Campus (KSAJS) and the Sultan Azlan Shah Campus (KSAS). The main campus is on a 300-acre site in the town of Tanjung Malim that straddles both the Perak and Selangor state border. A new campus is on an 800-acre (3.2 km²) site in the new township of Proton City, 5 kilometres from the current campus.

• H.M. Salleh - Founder and Former Deputy of Partai Rakyat Brunei^[3]
• Yusof Abdul Rahim - Former Chief Minister of Brunei from 1967 to 1972 and writer of Brunei's National Anthem^[3]
• Ali Mohamed Daud - Former Deputy Chief Minister of Brunei from 1962 to 1965.^[4]
• Jamil Al-Sufri - Principal of the Brunei History Centre and the Father of Brunei's Modern History^[3]
• Marsal Maun - Former Chief Minister of Brunei (1961-1962) and founder of P.G.G.M.B Brunei and Brunei Scouts Movement^[3]
• Abdul Momin Othman - Ambassador of Brunei to Indonesia^[5]
• Basir bin Taha - One of Brunei's First Teachers^[3]
• Pendeta Za'ba - Academician, Grammarian, Known as the Father of the Modern Malay Language
• Ibrahim Yaacob - Malay leftist leader, Founder of Kesatuan Melayu Muda
• Ghafar Baba - Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
• Abdul Rahman Talib - Former Minister of Education (Malaysia)
• Adam Adli Abd Halim - Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports (Malaysia)

• Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris

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