The inception of the University of Nairobi is traced back to 1956, with the establishment of the Royal Technical College which admitted its first lot of A-level graduates for technical courses in April the same year. The Royal Technical College was transformed into the second University College in East Africa on 25th June, 1961 under the name Royal College Nairobi and was admitted into a special relations with the University of London whereupon it immediately began preparing students in the faculties of Arts, Science and Engineering for award degrees of the University of London. Meanwhile, students in other faculties such as the Faculty of Special Professional Studies (later renamed Faculty of Commerce) and Faculty of Architecture continued to offer diplomas for qualifications of professional bodies/ institutions.
On 20th May 1964, the Royal College Nairobi was renamed University College Nairobi as a constituent college of inter-territorial, Federal University of East Africa, and henceforth the enrolled students were to study for degrees of the University of East Africa and not London as was the case before. In 1970, the University College Nairobi transformed into the first national university in Kenya and was renamed the University of Nairobi.
In view of the rapid expansion and complexities in administration, the University underwent a major restructuring in 1983 resulting in decentralization of the administration, by creation of six (6) colleges headed by principals. The following are the names and respective locations of the colleges:

1. College of Agriculture & Veterinary Sciences situated at Upper Kabete Campus
2. College of Architecture & Engineering situated at the Main Campus
3. College of Biological & Physical Sciences situated at Chiromo Campus
4. College of Education & External Studies situated at Kikuyu Campus
5. College of Health Sciences situated at the Kenyatta National Hospital
6. College of Humanities and Social sciences situated at the Main Campus -Faculty of Arts ; Parklands-Faculty of Law; Lower Kabete Campus -Faculty of Commerce