ALKAN was established in December 2002 under the umbrella of ALKAN Private Limited Company. The College is located at three sites: Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar and Dessie. The head office of the College is found within Addis Ababa campus.  

The College started its operation in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar cities by enrolling students in nursing and pharmacy fields for which it got an accreditation at 12 + 2 diploma level. In 2004, the College got accreditation to offer undergraduate degree programs in nursing and pharmacy programs. Starting from 2009 afterwards, the College got accreditation from MoE/HERQA in public health, accounting and finance, information technology, surveying, sociology and social anthropology, management and midwifery.
The College opened its third campus in Dessie city first accredited to teach in nursing and public health and later in midwifery, accounting and finance and management. In addition to the undergraduate programs, a wide variety of TVET programs are also offered in all its three campuses accredited by the regional TVET bureaus.

ALKAN is firmly established as one of the major private provider of higher education initially focusing in the areas of health sciences and expanding the fields to business, social science and information technology in all its campuses. The college has put in place a modest level of infrastructure and established practices that provide a good base for its planned development.

Since its establishment to date, the college has produced more than 14,000 graduates that have gained degree and diploma (level IV) in different fields of study and serve in varying capacities in the country and internationally. The College continues to maintain its premier and leadership position with high local and international visibility. 

ALKAN also works closely with many partners and collaborators both nationally and internationally to facilitate and accelerate on the country’s priority societal issues through its diversified training programs. It is advancing year after year and as a result, its scope of work and its involvement in launching new training program has significantly enlarged.