The College of Forestry in Shandong Agricultural University dates from 1906 and has a history of more than 100 years. It was originally founded based on the Forestry and Sericulture majors in Shandong Higher Agricultural School. The Forest Department of Shandong Agricultural College was officially established in 1947. In 1952, the Forestry Department of Shandong Agricultural College was formally set up. In 1993, the College of Forestry was established.

The college now serves as a national core base for academic training, scientific research and industry-university-research institute collaboration in forestry. At present, the college has 1990 full-time students (1702 undergraduates and 288 postgraduates), 5 departments (forestry, sericulture, landscape architecture, soil and water conservation, and landscape design), 7 undergraduate majors, 2 postdoctoral stations, 2 doctoral programs of first-class discipline, 5 master's programs, 4 provincial and ministerial key disciplines, 2 provincial key majors, 1 national characteristic specialty, 1 undergraduate experiment teaching center, 1 on-campus comprehensive practical training center, 1 ministerial off-campus practical training center, 1 national agricultural science and education cooperation training center, and 15 off-campus educational and research centers. It has 12 research platforms including the Key Laboratory of the State Forestry and Grass Administration for Forest Cultivation in the Middle and Lower Area of the Yellow River and the Taishan Forest Ecosystem Positioning Research Station of the State Forestry and Grass Administration. The major of Sericulture is a national characteristic major and the teaching team of Silkworm Pathology is listed as a national level top team. Forestry major is rated as a key discipline of the State Forestry Bureau. Forest Cultivation, Garden Plants and Ornamental Gardening, Soil and Water Conservation are listed as key disciplines of Shandong Province.

It has 101 full-time faculty and staff members, including 80 full-time faculty members, 28 professors, 30 associate professors, 12 doctoral supervisors, 47 postgraduate supervisors, 5 lecture (guest) professors, 23 part-time professors, 5 experts with the special government allowance of the State Council, 2 young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions in Shandong Province, and 1 chief expert of the key disciplines in Shandong higher educational universities.

The college attaches great importance to promoting scientific research, and has long been committed to the main battlefield of forestry construction. During the period of “13th five-year plan”, the college totally undertook 272 projects of the national and provincial/ministerial levels, including more than 70 projects sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation, the “973plan” sub-projects, National Science and Technology Research, Industrial Science and Technology Special Projects, international cooperation programs, etc. It received the second-class prize of the Scientific and Technological Progress Award of Shandong Province 10 times and the third-class award 7 times. More than 1200 scientific research papers have been published with 120 papers indexed in SCI and EI with the highest impact factor of 13.44.

It also puts efforts into collaborations which significantly enhanced its academic impact. In addition, the college has signed comprehensive cooperation agreements with Mississippi State University in the United States and University of British Columbia in Canada, which creates favorable conditions for students to study abroad. Meanwhile, the cooperation with other universities, scientific research institutes, related industries and enterprises has also been further strengthened.

Up to 2019, the college has cultivated more than 12,000 of forestry scientists and professionals who are actively working in teaching and research, technology promotion, enterprise management, and government management positions. They are continuously making outstanding contributions to China's economic and social development and forestry ecological environment construction.