Cascade College was established in 1918 as the North Pacific Evangelistic Institute in Portland, Oregon, to provide "a formal course of training, under spiritual leaders, in preparation for full-time Christian service," (Sophia E. Townsend, 1957, , p. 1). Although the initial inspiration for the school came from Miss Lurana Terrell and Mr. Lewis I. Hadley, both local Quaker pastors, the mission of the founders was ecumenical from the beginning. The name of the Institute was changed in 1929 to Portland Bible Institute to better reflect the location of the school. Hard financial times during the 1930s "when denominations were raising their standards for ministerial training, and the missionary societies were asking candidates to have a college degree," (Townsend, p. 22) prompted the Board of Trustees to apply to the State Board of Education to become a college. Approval was granted in 1940 and the school became Cascade College.

The college faced financial challenges through the 1960s. In 1969, after its fifty-first graduation, "the board chose to merge student bodies with Seattle Pacific College because it shares the Cascade religious outlook..." (, April 23, 1969, p. 4). Some college records were transferred to George Fox College, Newberg, Oregon, because of long-standing Quaker ties with faculty, administration, and board members.