[2][3] Toward the end of 1940, Northrop Aircraft Corporation started a training program for airplane mechanics who would, then, work in its manufacturing facility in Hawthorne, California.

[4] In 1942, Northrop Aircraft started a program called Department 95 that provided technical training exclusively for military personnel during World War II.

[6] The Northrop Aeronautical Institute merged with California Flyers, a school in Inglewood, and became an independent, for-profit college.

[13][1][6] In March 1959, the school announced its new name, Northrop Institute of Technology, and the start of its bachelor of science curriculum.

[9] The university's mission statement was "to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education.

We investigate the most challenging, fundamental problems in science and technology in a singularly collegial, interdisciplinary atmosphere while educating outstanding students to become creative members of society.

[16] In 1989, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accused the university of improprieties in bookkeeping, credits, and the recruitment of foreign students.

[3] In May 1991, Northrop University announced that it was ending its degree programs and cutting the related staff due to low enrollment and financial problems.

[3] On September 12, 2022, it started offering advanced training in person at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas.

[10] After it was sold and merged, the school moved to 5800 West Arbor Vitae Street in Inglewood, California near the Los Angeles airport in 1953.

[13][20][16] Its School of Law was located at 1108 West Arbor Vitae Street in Los Angeles, California.

[16] The Central Coast Institute of Technology was founded in Santa Barbara in 1978 and was accredited as a satellite campus of Northrop University in 1979.

[7][19][14][16] A 1946 ad, claimed, "The Northrop Aeronautical Institute brings to aviation training completely new standards.

[18] In 1975, Jack Northrop made a significant donation to create the American Hall of Aviation, a museum that became part of the library's collection.

[2] The university also had a chapter of Alpha Eta Rho, a professional college aviation fraternity, that was chartered in March 1960.