As the sustainable university makes sustainability a central priority in its teaching and research, it is important to understand how universities are transitioning towards sustainability. Their pioneering of new practices, and their education of future generations, are giving sustainable universities a special ability to create and influence change. However, the effective implementation of sustainability policies in universities is highly dependent on the willingness and commitment of the management and students to engage in sustainable activities, and there is a lack of systematic effort in how best to map this interaction. To address this gap, this study mainly aimed to explain the sustainability process of universities by emphasizing the roles of students and the management system. A mixed method approach was used to achieve the goal. First, a qualitative content analysis of related research papers was performed through the PRISMA method to figure out the most important factors affecting the integration of sustainability into the university structure. The results of this section showed that six factors contribute to the effective implementation of sustainability in universities, which are: university culture, university leadership, sustainability education, sustainability knowledge, attitudes towards sustainability and commitment to sustainability. Then, structural equation modeling was used to ensure the validity of the model obtained from the qualitative section. The results indicated that both university leadership and culture positively influence the implementation of sustainability education in universities, which in turn has a positive effect on students’ knowledge and attitudes towards sustainability. The students’ sustainability knowledge and attitudes along with university leadership and culture showed a positive effect on their commitment to sustainability. Also, the students’ commitment to sustainability issues had the most direct effect on their participation in sustainability-oriented activities, and then their sustainability attitude and knowledge, respectively. Finally, sustainability knowledge, attitude and participation in sustainability-oriented activities were significantly related to the integration of sustainability into the university structure. Transitioning to sustainable universities will make society greener and healthier, setting an example for other organizations and the results of this study will help policy makers, managers and students to understand how to contribute to this transition.