The school was founded in Seattle on October 1, 1934, as the Northwest Bible Institute by the Northwest District Council of the Assemblies of God. A switch from a three- to a four-year curriculum in 1948 brought about a name change to Northwest Bible College. Ten years later the college moved to Kirkland, and in 1962, another name change was made, to Northwest College of the Assemblies of God.
On December 4, 2003, the College's Board of Directors voted to change the name of the institution to Northwest University. Explained the chairman of the board, Reverend Les Welk, "With so many of our peer institutions changing their names to include 'University'...the names 'College' and 'University' are taking on different meanings. We could not ignore this change, especially as we intend to attract additional students and donors."