The earliest predecessor of the university was the Wrexham School of Science and Art (WSSA), established in 1887, which after several mergers became the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education (NEWI) in 1975.

The university's School of Creative Arts operates the Wall Recording Studio[5] on its Plas Coch campus, the former home of Calon FM community radio station.

The university's origins date back to the opening of Wrexham School of Science and Art (WSSA) in 1887.

[12] In June 2014, the Home Office suspended the University's authorisation to sponsor international students.

[15] Between 2008 and 2019, the main Wrexham campus of the University hosted Wales Comic Con, reduced to one-day events from 2022 following a brief absence.

[22][23] The name change became official in September 2023, and the university maintains links with the Owain Glyndŵr Society to offer one of its top graduate awards.

The main site at Plas Coch covers 93 acres (380,000 m2), and was inherited from the former Cartrefle TTC which moved there in 1953.

The centre was open to schools and the general public, and in a partnership with Techniquest in Cardiff, was branded as 'Techniquest@NEWI' and later 'Techniquest Glyndŵr', from 2003 to 2020.

The university shares the former Welsh College of Horticulture in Northop, Flintshire, with Coleg Cambria.

The university runs 150 programmes, offering foundation, HND/Cs, honours and master's degrees and doctorates over a broad variety of qualifications.

In addition to professional courses such as nursing and social work, the university offers a range of postgraduate and undergraduate qualifications in Art & Design, Engineering, Science, Humanities, Health and Social Care, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Sports Sciences, Computing and Communication Technology, Music technology and Business.

[33] The University has international partnerships across Europe, Africa and Asia and is a member of the Fair Trade Coalition.

Following the retirement of Williams in 2000, NEWI appointed Michael Scott, a former student of the University of Wales, Lampeter in 2001.

[34] The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor Maria Hinfelaar who was the President of the Limerick Institute of Technology.

The facility complies with national competition standards for badminton, netball, basketball, volleyball, futsal and handball.

[36] In October 2014, former Welsh international footballer Robbie Savage was given an honorary fellowship at the university for services to sport.