In 1962 the Gainesville-Hall County Educational Task Force was established to build support for opening a community college that would support the educational needs of a growing population. With the community's support, an application for the establishment of a junior college in Gainesville was submitted to the regents in March of 1964. The application included a guarantee of $2 million in bonding to cover construction costs and funding for the creation of a technical school adjoin the junior college. Two years after the application was accepted by the regents, Gainesville Junior College opened its doors to the first class of students. Hugh M. Mills, Jr. was chosen as the first president. In 1967, the college held its first classes on the newly built campus. Dr. Foster Watkins became the second president of the college. Gainesville Junior College became Gainesville College in 1987 when the Board of Regents gave all junior and community colleges the option to drop "junior" and "community" from their names.

Upon Dr. Watkins retirement in 1997, the presidency went to Martha Tovell Nesbitt. Her tenure saw substantial growth and expansion for the school. Within the 16 years of her presidency, Nesbitt added satellite campuses in Cumming and Watkinsville. In 2005, the name of the college was changed to Gainesville State College and it was announced that several four-year degree programs would begin in the fall of 2006.

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia announced in 2012 that Gainesville State College would merge with North Georgia College and State University to form the University of North Georgia. The merger took effect in January 2013.

In the spring of 1983 Dr. James Foster Watkins was approved as Gainesville Junior College's second president. He took office on July 1, 1983 and, after brief settling in period, was inaugurated on October 17, 1983. During his first years at Gainesville Junior College, Dr. Watkins streamlined the administration, made the college more visible in the wider community and opened a micro-computer laboratory as well as a smaller instructional lab for the business, natural sciences and mathematics divisions. Watkins oversaw the first name change for the college in 1987; Gainesville Junior College became Gainesville College. In 1997, Watkins announced his retirement.

Before coming to Gainesville Junior College, Watkins worked at both the University of Alabama and Auburn University. He completed his bachelor's degree industrial engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was the captain of the football team. He received a master of education degree and his doctor of education from Auburn University.