Established in 1970 during the reign of King Faisal bin Abdulalziz, it assumed its current name in 2008 when it was granted university status by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and is named after Noura bint Abdul Rahman, elder sister and adviser of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud and the eldest daughter of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, the last emir of the Second Saudi State.

There were 6 colleges in the city of Riyadh alone, primarily in the fields of education, social service, science, arts, and home economics.

In 2004, the decision was made to unify all of the women's colleges in Riyadh, thus creating the first all-female university in the Kingdom.

[7] On 12 June 2011, the new campus was opened in an official ceremony by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, during which he said: "Women carry a responsibility that is more than a duty, to maintain the stability of society and contribute to building the economy of the nation, and to represent the community and the nation to the highest standards, outside and inside the country.

[9] Despite these advancements Saudi Arabia still has some of the worst rates of unemployment among women in the world[10] Preparatory Year Program (PYP): To ensure quality and a smooth transition into university life, PNU students are required to enroll in a two-year preparatory program of necessary skills, such as: The campus was constructed in a record time of two years, supported by 75,000 construction workers and the latest building machinery and methodologies.

[13] 38 of the university's buildings, totaling a million square meters, have been submitted for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating and the library has applied for the second highest LEED "Gold" rating.

[citation needed] The library holds over 2 million books in both Arabic and English with a maximum capacity of 5 million, in addition to numerous journal subscriptions, government publications, dissertations, databases, and manuscripts.

[3] Social Research and Women's Studies Aljazeera Chair Academic Societies Established Due to the physical size of the campus, an efficient means of transporting students needed to be developed.