Davao del Sur State College (DSSC) is the sole state college in Davao del Sur. DSSC is located at Barangay Matti, Digos City, Davao del Sur. It was formerly known as the Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST) Digos Campus.

In 1989, SPAMAST, as the mother college of Davao del Sur State College, initiated the move under the leadership of its second president, Dr. Francisco C. Ladaga, Sr. has acquired a total of 17.5 hectares for laboratory and instruction in different locations through acquisition and donations from private agencies and the Provincial Local Government Unit (PLGU) of Davao del Sur. This started the addition of the new campus, which is the Digos Campus.

Six (6) years later, in 1995, an additional 30 hectares of land in Matanao, Davao del Sur, were acquired and intended for production, research, and extension services to create a significant niche in the agricultural development of the province.

As the academic offerings grew, SPAMAST in 2000 repositioned itself by reorganizing the campuses into colleges, which renamed Digos Campus as the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) with a laboratory and production site in Matanao.

DSSC's separation from its former mother institution and conversion into a state college had several legislative turns involving key legislators from the House of Representatives.

On October 3, 2016, Hon. Lorna P. Bautista-Bandigan filed a House Bill 3927 entitled: “An Act Removing the Digos City Campus as Part of the Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST), Appropriating Funds Therefore and for other Purposes”. Then, on March 14, 2017, Hon. Mercedes “Didi” C. Cagas filed House Bill 5243 with Hon. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado as Co-author. The bill was titled: “An Act Converting the Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST) Davao del Sur Campuses into a State College to be known as Davao del Sur State College and Appropriating Funds Therefore”. Then, the two parties of Hon. Cagas and Hon. Bandigan agreed to consolidate their respective bills which gave rise to House Bill 6715, “An Act Separating the Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST)- Digos Campus in the City of Digos, Davao del Sur from the SPAMAST in the Municipality of Malita, Davao Occidental, and Converting it into A State College to be known as the Davao Del Sur State College, and Appropriating Funds Therefore”. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on December 11, 2017.

On August 28, 2018, the Senate accepted the request by the Lower House for a conference on House Bill 6715. The Senate approved the Conference Committee Report on November 27, 2018. It was also approved by Congress on the following day. They agreed on the final title - “An Act Separating the Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST) - Digos Campus in the City of Digos, Davao del Sur from the SPAMAST in the Municipality of Malita, Davao Occidental, and Converting it into A State College to be known as the Davao Del Sur State College, and Appropriating Funds Therefore”.

The Bill was signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on February 21, 2019. It is now known as Republic Act 11220 and made Davao Del Sur State College the 112th public higher education institution in the country.

Having complied with all the CHED requirements, the conversion of the college was certified by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) en banc by virtue of Resolution No. 494-2019, on August 13, 2019. Dr. Maricar Casquejo, the Regional Director of the CHED Region XI, was designated as the Officer In-Charge of DSSC from December 12, 2019, to September 27, 2020. On September 28, 2020, after a thorough search, the DSSC Board of Trustees approved the appointment of Dr. Augie E. Fuentes as the First President of the College.

DSSC has six institutes: the Institute of Agriculture and Related Sciences (IARS), Institute of Business Education and Governance (IBEG), Institute of Teacher Education (ITEd), Institute of Mathematics, Arts, and Sciences (IMAS), Institute of Computing, Engineering, and Technology (ICET), and Institute of Graduate and Professional Education (IGPE). Further, DSSC has extension campuses in Matanao, Sulop, and Kapatagan.