In its quest to empower the people of Zambia one student at a time, Northrise University has partnered with two universities in the United States. The universities are Dordt College located in Sioux Center, Iowa and California Polytechnic (CalPoly) San Luis Obispo located in California. The journey to a partnership with Dordt College begun in 2007 when Dr. Zimba, Northrise University President and Alan Smith who heads the Northrise University Farm Committee made a trip to Sioux Center to meet Dr. Ron Vos and Dordt's President, Dr. Carl Zylstra. The partnership was affirmed as a good endeavor and both schools went to work in making this a reality. In 2008, Northrise University pursued another partnership with California Polytechnic University in order to form a strategic partnership between the three institutes (Northrise, Dordt and CalPoly) of higher learning.

The three are working collaboratively to conduct needs assessments initially of small holder farmers and students of higher education here in Zambia. After which the strategic planning process will be conducted to lay the foundation for the development and implementation of a School of Sustainable Agriculture. This partnership will provide to Northrise University faculty expertise in multiple areas such as sustainable agricultural practices, soil chemistry and livestock management and production. While the partnership primarily focused on the School of Sustainable Agriculture, it now spans all other programs offered at NU.