Hebei Normal University is a provincial key university with a hundred-year history. The university originated from Shuntian School established in Beijing in 1902 and Beiyang Women Normal School established in Tianjin in 1906. Approved by Hebei provincial government, the former Hebei Teachers Univeristy, Hebei Teachers College, Hebei Education Institute established in 1952 and Hebei Vocational and Technological College merged into one in June, 1996 and was named Hebei Normal University. Hebei Normal University is an early-established large-scale university in China. The names of many great revolutionary pioneers such as Deng Yingchang, Liu Qingyang, Guo Longzhen, Yang Xiufeng and Kang Shien are on the list of graduates. A group of famous scholars like Liang Suming, Zhang Shenfu and Tang Yongtong and others are on the list, too. Among the graduates are some academicians such as Yan Luguang and Hao Bolin and famous coaches and athelets who won championship in international games such as Xu Shaofa and Cai Zhenhua. Since New China was founded in 1949, Hebei Normal University has trained more than 17,000 people with professional skills.
Hebei Normal University covers 122,287 acreage, the construction area is 810,512 square meters. The fixed capital is 44,921million yuan, the instruments and equipment in the university is worth 16,659 million yuan. The university library has a collection of 3,260,000 volumes. The university embraces a faculty and staff of 3,438 with a faculty of 1,652, among whom there is one academician of China Academy of Sciences, one expert as Yanzhao Scholar, and 80 model experts at national and provincial level, 200 professors, 507 associate professors, 328 Ph.D supervisors and postgraduate tutors. There are 913 students applying for doctorate degrees and master degrees, 18,907 four-year students and 327 three-year students, 15,990 adult students and 50 foreign students this term.
At present, Hebei Normal University has 16 colleges, along with the College of Graduate Education, College of Continuation Education and College of International Culture-exchange. There are 58 bachelor- degree-granting disciplines and specialities, 44 master-degree-granting disciplines and specialities. We can enroll doctor degree candidates in 17 disciplines and master candidates in 52 disciplines and specialities (including the disciplines and specialities of the second class included in doctor-degree and master-degree granting disciplines and specialities of the first-class subject). There is one provincial key discipline and eight provincial laboratories. Attached to the university there are Hebei Vocational Education Research Institute, the Research Institute of Pedagogy, Discipline Education Research Institute and Ancient Books Selecting and Sorting-out Research Institute. We also have established the National Training Center for the Backbone Teachers of Middle and Primary Schools, Hebei Further Education Center for the Middle and Primary School Teachers, Teacher Training Center of Hebei Higher Learning Institutions, Hebei Modern Technical Education Center and the CERNET Hebei Node.
Since the merging of four universities in 1996, the university has got two national awards of teaching achievements, 41 provincial awards of teaching achievements and has undertaken eight state projects of teaching innovation as well as 11 provincial level projects concerning the same areas. From 1997 to 2002, the university undertook 478 research programs above department level, among them 55 programs are national(37 natural science research programs and 18 social science research programs)and 199 research programs at the provincial (123 natural science research programs and 76 social science research programs). There are a group of programs having nation-wide influence such as national 937 Project, the project of the State Natural Scientific Funds and the Projects of Excellent Youth Scientific Funds. Some of the Scientific Research Achievements take the lead in the nation or in the province. Up to now, 483 academic books and 6,542 essays have been published publicly. According to the statistics of the essays from universities and college provided by China Science and Technology Information Office, in the years of 1999, 2000 and 2001 the scientific essays collected in SCI (SCIE) rank as No.49, No.44 and No.62.According to the Rank on the Internet given by the book of The Evaluation of the Universities in China, our university ranks within the first 100 universities. By the rank announced in 2003, our university ranks as No.90 among all the universities in China.No.9 Normal Universities in China and is No.4 among over 30 provincial Normal Universities.
Hebei Normal University developed a broad cooperation and exchange with universities in the world. Up to now, we have established the international relationship with more than 20 universities in America, Russia, Ukraine, Belgium and etc. The university, approved by the State Education Committee, has the right to enroll international students and students from Hong Kong and Tai Wan. At present, we have long and short- term students from Japan, South Korea, Italy, Britain, America and Canada and many other countries.