Ardhi Institute Morogoro had its beginning in early 1958 when it started as a Survey Training Centre for the purpose of training land surveying technicians for the duration of six months for each intake. By then, the location of the centre was at Mgulani area, Dar es Salaam city. In 1966, the course was restructured to a one - year theory and one year industrial training system. The entry qualification was form four. The re-structuring also changed the location from Mgulani to Observation Hill/Makongo area where the University College of Lands and Architectural Studies (UCLAS) is presently situated.

Following the McKinsey report of 1972 which noted inter alia, that Land Ministry cadres especially in the regions were seriously under strength, and poorly staffed; and following the pronouncement of policies of decentralization and establishment of permanent villages in rural areas, it became necessary to launch a training programme that would produce sub-professional personnel who would serve in the various areas of physical land development.

In October 1972, therefore, the former Survey Training Centre was renamed Ardhi Institute, 'Ardhi' being a Kiswahili word for 'Land'. The change of the name was meant to underline the change of status of the Institution in raising the training from the former technician level in the areas of land surveying to the sub-professional diploma level in the area of land management and valuation, land surveying and urban and rural planning. The certificate course was stopped during the introduction of these sub-professional courses.

In 1976, the Ardhi Institute and Ministry of Lands found it necessary to re-establish the land surveying certificate technician course that has been earlier conducted by the defunct Survey Training Centre. Due to lack of space at Ardhi Institute Dar-Es-Salaam, it was decided in July 1978 to transfer this course to Morogoro at the premises where upgrading courses were being conducted. The upgrading courses were in turn transferred to Tabora and placed under the academic umbrella of Ardhi Institute Tabora. This marked the birth of Ardhi Institute Morogoro.

During the re-establishment of the certificate course in Land Surveying, the courses lasted for a duration of six months. This duration was changed to one year in 1979 to improve the quality of the course and enhance the capability of the graduates.

This development was further modified in 1980 to add another year of industrial training (on job training). In 1983, the course was restructured to two years duration which included a 10-weeks field work. The rest of the academic year was devoted to lectures and assignments at the Institute.

In June 2000, the idea of introducing a diploma course in Land Surveying started following continuous restructurings of the certificate course. The reasons for introducing the diploma course were to:

• improve performance of the graduates in industry
• open up opportunities for the graduates to higher education, notably for Bachelor degree.

In 2001, the diploma course in Land Surveying, whose duration is two years started to be offered.

Graduates of Ardhi Institute Morogoro have found employment with many government, parastatal and non-government organisations such as:

• Local Government Authorities (City, Municipal, Township and District Councils).
• The ministry of Lands and Human Settlement Development.
• Private construction companies.
• Private land surveying firms.

The Institute is now under the ministry of Lands and Human Settlements Development.