East West College was founded in 1972 as the Midway School of Massage. It was purchased in 1981 by its current owner, David Slawson, who was vitally interested in increasing the options for health care in the Pacific Northwest. David's commitment to healing the environment resulted in positive contributions such as the Whole Life Expo as well as the Everett Healing Center, now known as Common Ground Center, which remains an integral part of the Portland healing arts community.

To reflect the wide spectrum of training available in the massage and bodywork field, David renamed the school East West College of the Healing Arts and integrated it into the Common Ground Center. As the college grew, it expanded first into a larger facility in downtown Portland and then in 1993 into a beautiful campus in a quiet eastside neighborhood. As its strong program continued to develop and its reputation spread, East West College opened a Westside campus to increase its presence in the community. In June of 2005, all campuses merged into its current facilities in Northeast Portland where over 40,000 square feet of the building space house specially outfitted classrooms and the many amenities for students.

East West College has been accredited by the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA) since 1997. Accreditation through COMTA means that the college has not only the institutional accreditation common to any accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, but that its programs have been carefully scrutinized by an agency that specializes in accrediting schools of massage and bodywork.