Before the college system was implemented, the campus was to be named "ITE Regional Campus Simei" due to the campus' size and projected intake as opposed to the other 10 smaller ITE campuses. In 2004, while the campus was still under construction, it was renamed to ITE College East (Simei) under the new college system. Some signboards on the campus still show the "ITE Regional Campus Simei" name.
The campus was built in 80 weeks at a cost of S$184.6 million.