Northwest Community College was created by an act of the state legislature in 1976, when the college began offering classes.

In 1987, Northwest Community College became a branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and was renamed UAF Northwest Campus. Though now affiliated with a preeminent research institution, Northwest Campus has kept its community college mission as a foremost goal.

NWC Advisory Council on September 19, 2006

The organization of UAF's rural campuses into their own college, the College of Rural and Community Development, and the priority that UAF gave to the development of a cross-regional network and a highly qualified instructional faculty have been critical to NWC's continued viability. The mission of Northwest Campus and UAF's College of Rural and Community Development is to provide higher education to the people of the Bering Straits Region and to other rural regions through telecommunications links.