Tongji University, formerly Tongji German Medical School, was established in 1907. The school was expanded to include engineering in its programs and got its new name as Tongji Medical and Engineering School in 1912. It was formally established as a university in 1923 and was renamed as National Tongji University in 1927. The name Tongji suggests cooperating by riding the same boat. It was one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher education in China. The university has developed rapidly in all respects over the fifty years since the founding of China, especially since the country's opening-up policy.
Tongji University is one of the leading comprehensive universities directly under the State Ministry of Education in China. It offers degree programs both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The university has School of Sciences, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Civil Engineering, Mechanical School, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Material Science and Engineering, School of Electronics and Information Engineering, School of Traffic and Transportation, Medical School, School of Liberal Arts and Law, School of Foreign Languages, School of Economics and Management, School of Software Engineering, school of Ocean and Earth Science.
In addition, there are Institute of Further Education, Institute of Higher Technology, Institute of Vocational and Technical Education, Institute of E-Education, Women's College, Institute of Automobile Marketing and Sino-German Institute which is authorized by Chinese and German governments to run postgraduate courses. There are also six university hospitals located in different campuses.
The university now registers over 50,000 students at all levels from certificate and diploma courses to Bachelor Degrees, Masters, PhD programs and post doctoral attachments. There are over 4200 academic staff for teaching and/or research, among whom there are 6 Members of Chinese Academy of Science, 7 Members of Chinese Academy of Engineering, over 710 professors and 1500 associate professors. The university offers diverse courses in its 82 Bachelor Degrees, 218 Masters, 94 PhD programs and 16 post doctoral mobile stations. As one of the state leading centers for scientific research, the university has 22 state key laboratories and engineering research centers.
The university has been one of the most popular universities in the country, attracting a large number of students from all parts of China and all over the world. In particular, it has become the number one choice of those who are pursuing a career in the field of architecture and civil engineering. Moreover, the university has developed close links with industry, which provides its students with opportunities of obtaining first-hand information through interaction with the society. That explains why graduates from Tongji University are much sought after by employers throughout the country.
In recent years, Tongji University is exploring and has gradually formed its own characteristics of modern educational theory and principles. The university regards the undergraduate education as the basic mission and the postgraduate as the way to strengthen the university. And the university has established the educational model on the guidelines of "knowledge, ability, character". Adhere to the coordinated development of the four major school functions, namely "personnel training, scientific research, social services, international exchanges" and make effort to strengthen the function of serving the community. Aimed on meeting demands of national scientific development and regional economics, the university promotes the modernization of traditional subjects, the reinforcement of new-born subjects and intensification of integrated subjects. The pursuing for better educational quality and the construction of the students’ personalities made the university prestigious, and the university will go on with this vigorous spirit.