This educational institution was founded on the basis of the scarcity of intermediate expert technicians needed by industry and the success of the Swiss and ITB mechanical polytechnics, which were established in 1976. For this reason, in 1982 6 polytechnics were operated at USU Medan, UNSRI Palembang, UI Jakarta, ITB Bandung , UNDIP Semarang, and UNIBRAW Malang with the help of the World Bank in accordance with the Decree of the Directorate General of Higher Education Number 03/Dj/Kep/1979.

In the beginning (1982), the Diponegoro University Polytechnic had three engineering departments/departments, namely, Civil Engineering Department/Department, Mechanical Engineering Department/Department, and Electrical Engineering Department/Department. In 1985, the Department of Commerce was opened because the industry needed skilled workers in the business sector. In 1989 there was a development of the Electrical Engineering Department to become the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Electronics/Telecommunication Engineering.

Based on the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia No. : 313/O/1991 dated June 6, 1991 regarding Polytechnic Arrangement within Universities and State Institutes, in 1992 it had 5 majors namely: Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Accounting and Business Administration.

On August 6, 1997 the Diponegoro University Polytechnic was declared independent and separated from the management of Diponegoro University with the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia Number: 175/O/1997 with the name SEMARANG STATE POLYTECHNIC. Then on July 31, 2002 a decree issued by the Minister of National Education number 134/O/2002 regulated the Organization and Work Procedure of the Semarang State Polytechnic.