1279 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos on January 6, 1976, Mariano Marcos State University was founded as a merger of two state colleges in the province of Ilocos Norte: the Mariano Marcos Memorial College of Science and Technology (MMMCST) in Batac and the Northern Luzon State College (NLSC) in Laoag City.

It metamorphosed into the Batac Rural High School in 1918, the Ilocos Norte Institute of Technology in 1964 and MMMCST in 1974.

As its enrolment grew and its offerings became upgraded, it was renamed the Ilocos Norte Normal School in 1952, the Northern Luzon Teachers College in 1963 and NLSC in 1976.

Sirmata is the official publication of the college students of Mariano Marcos State University.

MMSU is in Ilocos Norte, a province in the northwestern part of Luzon Island, Philippines.