TNU was founded in 1901 by Cumberland Presbyterian minister J. O. McClurkan as the "Pentecostal Literary and Bible Training School".

In 1917, the campus suffered a disastrous fire, and its students and faculty temporarily transferred to Ruskin Cave College.

[3] In 1935, the college moved back to its present location on Murfreesboro Pike in southeast Nashville, where it once again leased and then took over the 7-acre campus of Walden University in 1937.

[10] In March 2017, the boards of trustees of both institutions voted to approve a Memorandum of Understanding that would begin a three-year partnership exploring the possibility of an eventual merger.

Both were to retain separate boards of governance and continue to operate as independent institutions under their respective accrediting bodies.

Mackey (1936–1963), W. M. Greathouse (1963–1968), Mark R. Moore (1968–1979), Homer J. Adams (1979–1991), Millard C. Reed (1991–2005), Dan Boone (2005–Present) TNU is one of eight U.S. liberal arts colleges[14] affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene.

[19] Trevecca has a 90+ acre campus in an urban neighborhood environment, located 1.7 miles southeast of downtown Nashville.

[24] Trevecca has organizations such as the Student Government Association that are in charge of planning and hosting many social life events.

[27] Trevecca Nazarene is a member of NCAA Division II and primarily competes in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) since the 2024–25 academic year.

Some notable athletic accomplishments include the Trojan women's basketball team reaching the NAIA Championship game in 2008.

The 2021 Trojan baseball team reached the NCAA Division II College World Series in Cary, North Carolina.