In the fall of 1990, in response to a growing number of commuting students and insufficient classroom space on the College of Charleston campus, the College opened its "North Area Facility" at 2183 Ashley Phosphate Road. The new North Area Facility offered six day sections for fall 1990 with a total of 38 students. In the spring of 1991, seven day sections were offered with a total of 42 students.

In the fall of 1991, the number of day sections was doubled, and Wednesday evening classes were introduced. In the fall, there were 12 day sections with a total of 151 students and two evening sections with 32 students a total of 183 for the semester, more than double the 80 from the entire previous year! Though spring enrollments actually dropped somewhat for both day and evening courses, total enrollment for the 1991-1992 was 346.

In the spring of 1993, the College signed a lease for 3,700 square feet at 7410 Northside Drive, near the intersection of I-26 and Ashley Phosphate Road. This marked a major developmental step, for instead of just using someone else's space, the College now had its own facility with its own identity. The new facility also gave the College the ability to provide courses any night of the week.

The decision to move to Northside Drive showed immediate results. Express courses were added, and an array of evening courses were offered. Overall enrollments for the year were 828, an increase of an incredible 84% over the prior year.

In 1994-1995, evening enrollments showed an 18% increase, but that was more than offset by a decrease in day enrollments of 36%. There is no apparent reason for the decrease in day enrollments: there was little difference in course offerings, advertising, etc. Overall enrollment was 773.

Enrollment went back up in 1995-1996 to 824, but the year was most importantly marked by significant curricular development., the curriculum was overhauled and a new two-year schedule of courses was developed. The new Two-Year Schedule was widely distributed to current and prospective students, showing them how they could satisfy all of the College's general education requirements (except lab sciences) at the North Area Facility by taking courses only in the evening, only during the day, or a combination of both. This new schedule gave students many more North Area choices, a clearer notion of what to expect, and a vastly improved way to plan their courses of study. Also, the number of Express Courses was greatly expanded.

The 1996-1997 academic year was truly a transformational year marked by a new curriculum, a new facility, a new name, and a new visibility in the community. By the time the three-year lease of the facility was expiring, enrollments were nearly double what they were when the space was leased. Moreover, the implementation of the new two-year schedule caused significant enrollment increases and seemed to indicate that further increases were on their way. As a result, the North Area facility was pushed beyond its limits for classroom and office space, and the College decided to move upstairs in the same building to a suite which more than doubled student space, classrooms, and office space. It also provided a small faculty office space. With the new space, came a new name: College of Charleston-North. Enrollment for the year was up 14% to 941, but the impact of all these changes was seen most the following year.

In 1997-1998, yearly enrollment jumped an astonishing 44% to 1353. Another factor contributing to the increase was that the times for all CofC-North day courses were moved "back" 30 minutes to make it easier for students to take courses at the CofC-North and on the main campus on the same day. Facilities were upgraded by installing a computer classroom with all computers linked to the campus network and the Internet. As a first step towards providing more opportunities for business majors to do courses for their major at the CofC-North, the beginning accounting sequence was added to the schedule.

Enrollment in credit courses totaled 1,559 for the 1998-1999 school year. The addition of Geology 101 and 102 made it possible for students to complete all of the College’s general education requirements at CofC-North. The North Campus increased its efforts to offer courses for business majors by adding two Economics courses and a Business Law class. CofC-North hosted 79 continuing education classes with a total attendance of 975. The North Campus began leasing an additional 3750 square feet that raised the facility capacity to approximately 12,000 square feet and 12 classrooms. A six-station computer lab was created for student use; this was important because students now had access to computers when the computer classroom/lab was being used for classes.

In 1999-2000 the North Campus held steady with enrollment at 1559. The campus offered a total of 71 courses, 28 of which were Express classes.

College of Charleston enrollment up to 1,703, and surveys show that 73% of students served by the North Campus are above the age of 21. CofC North offers all courses required to complete an undergraduate degree in Corporate Communications; this is the first degree that students could seek and complete at the North Campus. The campus also added a schedule that makes it easy for students to earn a minor in Business Administration in the evenings. CofC North offered its first two distance learning courses from the downtown campus to the North Campus via two-way video teleconferencing. Student services expand, allowing working adults to get admissions information, apply for admission, receive academic advising and registration help, take placement tests, buy books, pay their bills and validate their student ID cards.