The College was established in 1978 jointly by the Governments of the United Republic of Tanzania and Germany also known as FRG-Federal Republic of Germany “West Germany”, under the name of the Technical College Arusha (TCA).The College is located at the Central Business District of the Arusha City which is the Northern Tanzania’s centre of agriculture, commerce, trade and tourism.Arusha City is also the Head Quarter of the East Africa Community and is the central point in Africa between Cape Town and Cairo.It is surrounded by famous mountains such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. In addition, it is the door to the world’s great wildlife refuges including Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti and Tarangire. All these make the location of the College an ideal place for studying.

Part of the responsibilities of ATC at the time of its inception was to train technicians for three years to the level of the Full Technician Certificate (FTC) in the fields of Automotive Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering,Transport Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. In March 2007, the name changed to the Arusha Technical College (ATC) through the Arusha Technical College Establishment Order No. 78 as enabled by the NACTE Act No. 9 of 1997.This Establishment Order granted autonomy and elevated the status of the College to a higher tertiary education institution. Following elevation of the status of the College to a higher tertiary education institution and grant of autonomy, the College introduced award of the Ordinary Diploma in the above mentioned programmes and introduced more Ordinary Diploma and Certificate awards in various professions namely: Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering; Civil and Irrigation Engineering, Auto electric and Electronics Engineering, Laboratory Sciences and Technology, Lapidary & Jewelry Technology,Computer Science and Information Technology.