The Naturopathic College of New Zealand was established in 1979 when the founder of the college, Melva Martin, recognised the need in New Zealand for distance education in natural therapies.

The Naturopathic College of New Zealand has grown over the last 29 years but still maintains as its focus providing distance education to enable those who do not have the opportunity to attend in-house training establishments to study and gain qualifications in the increasingly popular and fascinating area of natural health.

The Naturopathic College of New Zealand has been registered as a PTE by NZQA since 1991 and has been receiving Ministry of Education funding for its courses since 1998.