Adama Science and Technology University (ASTU) was first established in 1993 as Nazareth Technical College (NTC), offering degree and diploma level education in technology fields. Later, the institution was renamed as Nazareth College of Technical Teacher Education (NCTTE), a self-explanatory label that describes what the institution used to train back then: candidates who would become technical teachers for TVET colleges/Schools across the country.

Although it is an institution with a history of only two decades, ASTU is known for its dynamic past. It has always been responsive to the realization of national policies: training of technologists at its infant stage, and later shifting to training of technical trainers, as well as business educators, to fill the gap in TVETs. Following its inauguration in May 2006 as Adama University, the full-fledged university started opening other academic programs in other areas—an extension to its original mission.