Abstract  
Anxiety is the emotional response without a specific object that is subjectively experienced and communicated interpersonally. Progressive relaxation therapy is a relaxation technique that is performed to reduce anxiety by means of stretching and relaxing the back muscles of the body. Progressive relaxation therapy conducted in 15 movements ranging from the face area, the entire body through the feet. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of progressive relaxation to decrease anxiety levels in students who live in Rusunawa Sultan Agung Islamic University, Semarang. This study used a design quasy experiment with a pretest and posttest method one group. Based on the analysis results showed that of the 45 respondents, the post-intervention measurements most respondents as many as 35 respondents (77.8%) did not experience anxiety and 10 respondents (22.2%) experienced mild anxiety. Conclusion This study showed there are significant effect of progressive relaxation therapy to decrease anxiety levels with p value <α is 0.000. Based on the above results, it is recommended that progressive relaxation therapy can be used as standard therapy in reducing mental nursing specialist anxiety levels.  
Keywords: progressive relaxation, anxiety, quasy experiment, pre and post-test one group.