Indonesian government had initiated a program to develop Polytechnic in Indonesia in 1980. In 1983 a consortium of agricultural sciences had led to the idea of establishing state agricultural polytechnic. Since then, the government established State Agricultural Polytechnic in 6 (six) different cities in Indonesia: (1) Jember, (2) Lampung, (3) Payakumbuh, (4) Samarinda, (5) Ujung Pandang and (6) Kupang. Initially, state Agricultural Polytechnic establishment was unified into local universities such as: Jember University, Lampung Univeristy, Andalas University, Mulawarwan Universities, Hasanudin University and Nusa Cendana University. Further, to embody an independent State Agricultural Polytechnic in Jember, a consultant from Asian development Bank (ADB) Dr. Robert Maxwell and Ir. Arifin, the staff of Department of Education and Culture and accompanied by Jember University team, lead by Ir. Soehardjo Widodo, MS conducted in-depth feasibility study in Jember regency.

Physical infrastructure of Jember State Agricultural Polytechnic was built and funded by the government budget year 1986-1987. The human resources for Jember State Agricultural Polytechnic was regulated by Directorate General of Higher Education noted in Decree No: 43/DIKTI/KEP/1987 date September 1st, 1987 which appointed Ir. Soetrisno Widjaja as the Director which was assisted by: Ir. Setiadji as the vice director of academic affairs and Drs. Achmad Sugianto as the vice director of administration and finance affairs. In order to enhance the management quality, in 1987, the academic consultant of BERT ENAREC had all the managers conduct comparative study in Lincoln College and Chrischuh Polytechnic in New Zealand for 6 (six) months. After passing through all the preparation stages including the education facilities: fields, buildings, equipment, lecturers and supporting staff, Directorate General of Higher Education noted in Decree No: 219/DT/1988 date: October 29th, 1988, the government officially established Agricultural Polytechnic of Jember Universitythat had 3 (three) departments and 5 (five) study programs, which were:

Year by year, Politeknik Negeri Jember has developed. It was indicated by newly established study program and merged study program. To date, Politeknik Negeri Jember provides 8 Departmens and 22 Study Programs which are:

• Agriculture Production Department
  1. Horticulture Crops Production Study Program
  2. Food Crops Production Study Program
  3. Seed Production Technology Study Program
  4. Plantation Cultivation Study Program
  5. Food Crops Production Syudy Program
• Agriculture Technology Department
  1. Agricultural Engineering
  2. Food Industry Technology
  3. Food Engineering Technology
• Animal Husbandry Department
  1. Livestock Production
  2. Poultry Business Management
• Agribusiness Management Department
  1. Management of Agribusiness
  2. Management of Agroindustry
  3. Public Sector Accounting
  4. Applied Agribusiness
• Information Technology Department
  1. Informatics Management
  2. Computer Engineering
  3. Informatics Engineering
• Language, Communication and Tourism Department
  1. English
• Health Department
  1. Health Information Management
  2. Clinical Nutrition
• Engineering Department
  1. Renewable Energy Engineering
  2. Automotive Engineering

According to the government regulation No. 30 year 1990; Polytechnic is one of higher education that performs a professional education independently. For that reason, Polytechnic which was unified into local university had to separate their organization. As noted in the Decree of Senate of Jember University No: 5919/PT32.H/E/1997 date October 1st, 1997 and the Decree of Minister of Education and Culture No: 234/O/1998 date September 21st, 1998, Jember State Agriculture Polytechnic was an independent higher education which performed professional education in Jember. As Jember State Agriculture Polytechnic had developed and become Politeknik Negeri Jember to answer the challenge and to accommodate the potential chances in the future which was noted in the Decree of Minister of Education No: 191/O/2002 date November 5th, 2002.

The objective of Higher education is about to provide an equity and an expansion of education. Politeknik Negeri Jember executes this objective of Higher education by providing education to the all students with no exception, especially to students who have strong drive in education and live in less-fortune neighborhood and in remote area. By prioritizing such students, Politeknik Negeri Jember takes a role in expanding the education in Indonesia. Politeknik Negeri Jember dynamically develops year to year. To fit the market needs, Politeknik Negeri Jember facilitate vocational education based on industries, national and multinational issues. Lately, Politeknik Negeri Jember sets higher number of students in order to provide more chance to the Indonesian people to earn higher education. This effort also leads to Politeknik Negeri Jember to be BHPT (State-Owned College) so that they can execute their programs accountably and independently. Besides, currently, Politeknik Negeri Jember also offers special interest study program. This study program is based on the potention of local regency. Further, this special interest study program could meet the needs in regency. In other words, opening special interest study program contribute to the development of science and technology, especially their use in local life.