Egerton University is the oldest institution of higher learning in Kenya. It was founded as a Farm School in 1939 by Lord Maurice Egerton of Tatton, a British national who settled in Kenya inthe 1920s. In 1950, the School was upgraded to an Agricultural College offering diploma programmes.

1939 - to date
The Egerton Agricultural College Ordinance was enacted in 1955. In 1979, the Government of Kenya and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded a major expansion of the institution. In 1986, Egerton Agricultural College was gazetted as a constituent college of the University of Nairobi. The following year, 1987, marked the establishment of Egerton University through an Act of Parliament. Egerton University Act of 1987 was repealed and replaced by the Universities Act No. 42 of 2012 and chartered afresh in 2013.

Egerton University is headquartered at Njoro main campus. The main campus also houses the Faculties of Agriculture, Arts and Social Sciences, Education and Community Studies, Engineering and Technology, Environment and Resources Development, Science and Veterinary Medicine & Surgery