Azrou is mostly known for hosting the first high school in the Berber region: the Berber high school of Azrou (now the Tarik Ibn Ziad School). It was built by the French colonial authorities in order to train Moroccans for the colonial administration. It was one of the instruments for the implementation of a Berber Dhahir, which changed the justice system in areas where Amazigh languages were predominantly spoken, excluding these areas from and the authority of the Makhzen that applied to the rest of Morocco, and implementing a new legal system ostensibly in accordance with laws and customs written in French.

The college became an educational institution in the reference area, forming part of the political and military elites from 1956 to 1973, after independence, the college was renamed Azrou Tarik Ibn Ziad High School.

The town was long neglected by the Moroccan authorities since independence in 1956 to the detriment of the nearby town of Ifrane. Although it is the true capital of the and a town that has given Morocco many leaders and intellectuals, the town still does not officially rank as provincial capital, although it is in practice.