It also includes sections of Bremer, Buchanan, Jones, Jackson, and Mitchell counties.

Originally, the school was known as Northeast Iowa Technical Institute (NITI).

The Peosta Campus houses the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), a nationally accredited agricultural training center.

As part of a three-day Midwestern bus tour, President Barack Obama traveled to the college with members of his cabinet to host the White House Rural Economic Forum on August 16, 2011.

The college also hosted President Donald Trump for an economic roundtable in July 2018.