History of engineering education in Nepal can be traced since 1942, when Technical Training School was established. Engineering section of the school offered only trades and civil sub-overseers programs. In 1959, Nepal Engineering Institute, with the assistance of the government of India, started offering civil overseer courses leading to Diploma in Civil Engineering.

In 1972, Nepal Engineering Institute at Pulchowk Campus and Technical Training Institute at Thapathali Campus were brought together under the umbrella of Tribhuwan University to constitute the Institute of Engineering.And the Nepal Engineering Institute and the Technical Training Institute were renamed as Pulchowk Campus and Thapathali Campus respectively. Since then, Institute of Engineering has undergone considerable expansion.

Since then the Technician programs in Electrical, Electronics, Refrigeration/Air-Conditioning Engineering were started in Pulchowk Campus, with the assistance from UNDP/ILO. The Architecture Technician program was started by the IOE on its own effort.With the assistance of the World Bank and UK , later,the existing technician level courses were strengthened and Bachelor's Degree Course in Civil Engineering was Started.Similarly, with the assistance of the World Bank , the Swiss Government, and the Canadian Government,BE courses in Electronics,Electrical,Mechanical Engineering and Architecture were started.From Academic year 1998 / 99 Bachelor's Program in Computer Engineering were started. Currently, IOE offers BE courses in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Architecture Engineering, Agriculture Engineering as well.

In 1996 Pulchowk Campus, with Support from the Norwegian Government, has started MSc Courses in Urban Planning, Structural Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Water Resources Engineering. Pulchowk Campus has also started MSc Courses in Renewable energy and Geothermal Engineering, Information and communication and Power Systems Engineering effective from December ,2001. The diploma level programs at the Pulchowk Campus have been transferred to other three IOE campuses.