The emergence and expansion of IAU as Iran’s largest non-profit higher education system plays a pivotal role in realizing the cultural-educational objectives of the Islamic Revolution. Given the limited analysis of cultural policymaking typologies within this institution, the present study employs a historical-managerial approach and grounded theory methodology to identify and examine the evolution of cultural policies across different administrative periods. Research data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 30 key stakeholders (presidents, vice-presidents for cultural affairs, representatives of the Supreme Leader, and cultural unit directors) and analyzed using MAXQDA software through open, axial, and selective coding procedures. The findings reveal that cultural policymaking at Islamic Azad University evolved through five distinct typologies: (1) stabilization-developmental policymaking with quantitative dominance (Dr. Abdullah Jasbi period), (2) identity-centered centralized policymaking (Dr. Farhad Daneshju period), (3) administrative-institutional policymaking with structural approach (Dr. Hamid Mirzadeh period), (4) interactive-regulatory policymaking (Dr. Farhad Rahbar period), and (5) transformational policymaking with educational-civilizational approach (Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi period). Each typology is shaped by causal conditions (ideological foundations, economic pressures, structural crises), contextual conditions (multilayered structure, cultural-generational diversity, media environment), and key strategies (institutionalization, localization, multilevel governance, smartification), yielding distinct outcomes in identity reinforcement, cultural governance improvement, participation, and university legitimacy. This analysis provides a historical-managerial theoretical framework for studying cultural policies in higher education institutions and proposes practical solutions for reconfiguration, localization, and digitalization of cultural policymaking at IAU by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each period.