Prior to its merger with UW–Oshkosh in July 2018, the campus was a member of the University of Wisconsin Colleges.

Setting up a joint commission between the city and county, they successfully lobbied for the building of a campus and set aside land in 1966, the previous home of the Fond du Lac County Airport on the city's east side.

[2] In July 2018, the University of Wisconsin Colleges system restructured, and UW–Fond du Lac once again became a satellite campus of UW–Oshkosh.

[3] In October 2023, UW System President Jay Roth announced that the campus would cease operating at the end of the Spring 2024 semester, citing enrollment declines and increasing costs.

[6] UWO Fond du Lac sponsored teams in women's volleyball and men's basketball as a member of the independent Wisconsin Collegiate Conference.