NACIT was founded in 1984 as an in-house information technology training center for civil servants. NACIT was under the then Department of Data Processing in the Ministry of Finance. It was therefore previously called Data Processing Department Training Center. The majority of civil servants were then not computer literate. NACIT came in to cater for them and also offer upgrading programs for those who were partly knowledgeable in computers. As computer technology moved from mainframes to desktops, other government ministries started recruiting their own IT staff. Consequently demand for IT courses grew. Sooner or later other institutions started offering IT services so government could get IT knowledge somewhere. As a result NACIT also started sourcing its customers outside government.

The College started offering its courses to parastatals, private individuals and companies. These changes necessitated the change in the name, from Data Processing Department Training Centre to National College of Information Technology (NACIT) to give a broader thrust of its operations. The institution now caters for everybody as the College contributes to National Development through IT literacy.