Established in 1859 as the Norwegian Agricultural Postgraduate College, it became a scientific university college (vitenskapelig høgskole) in 1897 and received university status in 2005. Prior to 2005 it was known as the Norwegian College of Agriculture (Norges landbrukshøgskole, NLH). Only a few years later, in 2014 the university merged with the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NVH) in Oslo, and is today known as the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.