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In April 1965, Clifford G. Erickson was chosen byt the first Board of Trustees to be the first President of Rock Valley College, and classes began on September 29, 1965 for 1,054 students. However, the main campus was not ready for classes. Instead, during the first year, classes were held in various locations throughout Rockford, including Harlem High School, the Rockford YWCA, the National Guard Armory, and the Naval Reserve Armory. By Fall 1966, classes moved to three small wooden buildings at the current main campus location . The buildings, referred to as "temp building" on campus, remained active in a variety of capacities for 37 years. In October 1967, the groundbreaking for six permanent buildings occured. It took five years to complete Classrooms I and II, a Boiler House, Educational Resource Center (ERC), Student Center (SC) and the Physical Education Center (PEC). In 1968 the college began an aviation maintenance program at the Rockford Airport (now the Chicago Rockford International Airport) and an automotive service tech program in the neighboring town of Belvidere. Both programs are still active.

In January 1969, Dr. Karl Jacobs became the second RVC President. During his 28 year tenure, the college expanded both programs and locations. In 1970, the American Dental Association's Council of Education approved the RVC Dental Assisting Program. The next year, the college took over the Adult and Continuing Education program from the Rockford School District, offering personal enrichment and professional development classes to the public. A Tool and Die Apprenticeship program was added in 1974. In 1978, the college began offering college credit to high school students taking classes through the High School Connections program. In 1981 the college purchased an unused school building, Bell School, which is used for many of the community education classes. Dr. Jacobs also spearheaded the building of the Technology Center (now Woodward Tech Center or WTC) and the implementation of numerous technology programs. The Tech Center opened in 1987 and was featured the next year in a front page article of the New York Times titled "Community Colleges Emerge as Centers for Job Training." The center helped with a cooperative education agreement reached the previous year with Chrysler Motor Corporation that allowed workers to take technology courses that went toward job training for the Belvidere plant as well as college credit. It also became the first testing location for robotics classroom software developed by the University of Michigan.

Upon Dr. Jacob's retirement, Roland Chapdelaine became the college's third president. He continued expansion of the college and its facilities. Under his leadership, the Student Center was remodeled, the Support Services Building (SSB) was built, and the state of the art Bengt Sjostrom Theatre with its retractable roof was unveiled.

Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, Illinois Senator Dave Syverson, Larry Young, author Kimberla Lawson Roby, illustrator Tom Lichtenheld, and chancellor Susan Sciame-Giesecke, are members of the college alumni. Many other celebrities and notable people have visited Rock Valley College over the years:

1971 Miss America, Phyllis George, visited for a panel discussion.

1972 Doc Severinsen, the world famous jazz trumpeter and band leader for The Tonight Show, performed.

1972 Ed Cox, the son-in-law of President Richard Nixon, visited to discuss the Vietnam War.

1972 Johnny Cash performed a sold-out show. Included in the show were June Carter, the Carter family, The Statler Brothers, the Tennessee Three with Larry Butler, and Carl Perkins.

1973 Billie Jean King played an exhibition match on campus, beating French player Francoise Durr.

1974 Ann Landers gave a lecture.

1975 The 8th Annual World Affairs Conference of Northwestern Illinois was held at RVC and former British Ambassador to the UN Lord Caradon was the keynote speaker.

1975 Several performances were held on campus throughout the year, including Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard, Tommy Overstreet, and Gordon Lightfoot.

1976 The Mid American Dance Seminar was held at RVC which featured Russian ballet instructor Edward Caton as well as performers Shozo Sato and Robert Higa.

1977 Charles Wyckoff was a guest speaker talking about the Lock Ness Monster expeditions.

1978 Maya Angelou gave a lecture on "The Imperative Friendship Between Woman and Men."

1979 The Oak Ridge Boys performed.

1983 Max Robinson, ABC World News Tonight anchor gave a lecture.

1984 Gene Roddenberry gave a lecture.

1984 Vaclav Nelhybel was part of the college's Guest Artist Series concerts.

1985 Guest lecturer Coretta Scott King spoke on "The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr."

1985 George McFarland ("Sparky") visited campus for a special viewing of the Our Gang series.

1989 Alan Arkin gave a lecture entitled "The Creative Impulse and the Search for Self."

1991 Ed and Lorraine Warren gave a lecture on their involvement in the Amityville Horror investigation.

1992 Samuel Pickering Jr. spoke about his personal philosophy that inspired the movie Dead Poets Society.

1993 Magic Johnson made his first stop on his "Magic All Stars Tour."

2000 Los Tigres Del Norte performed.

2004 Kevin Powell gave a lecture.

2006 President Barack Obama (then Illinois Senator) held a town hall meeting on campus.

2011 Sister Helen Prejean gave a lecture.

2012 Daniel Wallace gave a lecture as part of the college's Visiting Writers Series.

2013 Mat Franco performed, a year prior to his America's Got Talent win.

2015 Jonathan Bostic held a meet and greet event on campus.

2016 Orange is the New Black star Jackie Cruz gave a lecture.