Rongo University College was established in the 1970s as a craft apprenticeship training center known as Kitere Technical School. After this there emerged a need for technical and vocational training in the larger Southern Nyanza region. The only technical training institution available in the area was the Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology (RIAT) in Kisumu.

In 1983 the Moi Institute of Technology (MIT) was formed. This came after the elevation of Kitere Technical School into a public institution. On 7th October 2016, having been in operation for four years as a constituent College of Moi University, H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Charter elevating Rongo University College into a full-fledged public University.

The mission of the University College is to provide high quality education through teaching, research, community service and nurturing innovative graduates. The University College is committed to developing and delivering quality, market driven academic programs and undertaking research and extension activities. All these are geared toward improvement of local and national socio-economic status and well-being of the Kenyan people. Some of the courses offered at the institution include; Diploma in Public Relations, Diploma in Library and Information Studies, Bachelor of Information Sciences, Bachelor of Science Informatics, Diploma in Education, Bachelor in Tourism Management, Bachelor Commerce and Bachelor of Science in Communication and Media Studies.

Students have the flexibility of learning on-campus or via their e-learning platform, allowing for more students to have access the College’s academic offering. The University College has also partnered with a number of bodies to improve research and innovation, exchange programmes, scholarship, curriculum development, infrastructural development and general service to staff and students. A few of the institutions are:
- Project Humanity and Africa Library Project- USA: Corporate social responsibility through mobilizing book drives for primary schools in Migori and Homa Bay Counties. 64,000 books to 40 Primary schools, 23 Secondary schools and one community have been distributed.

- University of Texas at El Paso, USA: Curriculum development in the School of Business and Human Resource Development.

- Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, China: Science lab equipment, exchange of germplasm, exchange of research findings. Control of Maize Lethal Necrotic Disease.

- University of Brighton, UK: Received media lab equipment, working on developing community radio. Some of radio equipment have been received. Developed material on HIV and AIDs for dissemination through community radio and youth empowerment.

- Migori County and Wuhan Textile University, China: This is a collaboration on Textile and ICT. 2 staff have been trained at Masters level at Wuhan Textile University. Mulberry and silkworm rearing.

- The McKnight Foundation, USA: Grant to undertake research on utilization of sorghum for food and nutrition security of smallholder farmers

Rongo University College is dedicated to empowering students in the region in achieving their highest academic potential, ensuring their campus learning or e-learning programmes are consistently enhanced and accessible to all. Set in the serene environs of Rongo town, students are able to learn, study and pursue non-academic activities that will see them developing academically and at a personal level.