The predecessor of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) was founded under the name of Kaohsiung District Pingtung Extension School of Agriculture in Japanese Taisho Year 10 (1924) during the period of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan . In Japanese Showa Year 3 (1928), the school was expanded and renamed as Kaohsiung DistrictPingtungAgriculturalSchool. After the Restoration of Taiwan, the school was reformed as Taiwan Provincial Institute of Agriculture in 1954, and then renamed again as National Pingtung Institute of Agriculture in 1964. During that time, it, along with Taiwan University, Taiwan Provincial Normal College (predecessor of Taiwan Normal University), Taiwan Provincial Chung Hsing University (predecessor of National Chung Hsing University),
The institute was upgraded to National Pingtung Polytechnic Institute in 1991. At that time National Pingtung Polytechnic Institute and National Taiwan Institute of Technology were the only two institutions of higher education within our nation’s technical and vocational education system. In 1997, the institute along with National Taiwan Institute of Technology and National Yunlin Institute of Technology took the lead in being reformed as universities of science and technology. At each stage of the development of Taiwan’s technical and vocational education system, NPUST always occupied the top position.NPUST, located on a hillside in northeastern Neipu Township in Pingtung, occupies 285 hectares adjacent to Da-Wu Mountain and Dong-Gang Creek with the largest and most beautiful campus in the nation. The arrangement and construction of each campus building was based upon the topography of the campus landscape. NPUST has enjoyed the reputation of being a “National Park University.