The origin of the Ho Technical University goes back to 1968. It was established as a Technical Institute with the primary objective of providing pre-technical education. By 1972, the institute had made tremendous progress in upgrading of the courses offered. Consequently the pre-technical programmes gave way to courses in the Engineering and Vocational fields, e.g. Basic Engineering, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering, Building Technology and Business Education.

In 1986, the Institute became a Polytechnic. It however continued to operate as second cycle institution, until 1993 when the Polytechnic was upgraded to a fully-fledged tertiary institution by the enactment of PNDC Law 321 and charged with the responsibility of training students in the technical and vocational skills to the Higher National Diploma [HND] level. Subsequently, in 2007, Polytechnics were given the mandate  by the Polytechnics Act 745 to award their own degrees to the highest level.