Shandong University, under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, is a key comprehensive university with a long history, a variety of disciplines, strong academic strength, and distinctive characteristics, which has great influence both at home and abroad. Shandong University is a member university of Project 211 and Project 985, two national key construction projects to support the development of high-quality universities. Shandong University is one of the initiative universities of modern Chinese higher education. Its medical school, established in 1864, signified the beginning of modern Chinese higher education. 

It's main body, Shandong Imperial College (Shandong Da Xue Tang) established in 1901, was the second national university in China, only after the Imperial University of Peking. Moreover, it was the first university to be established and run in accordance with a chartered constitution. Since its birth, Shandong University has gone through several stages of significant growth and change: starting as the Shandong Imperial College, it was then reborn as the National Qingdao University, the National Shandong University, Shandong University, and the Shandong University in its present form, which is the result of the merger of Shandong University, Shandong Medical University and Shandong Industrial University. 

For more than 100 years, Shandong University has been following the mission of “Reserve talents for the world, and seek prosperity for the nation” and the motto of "Noble in spirit, endless in knowledge." For this aim, it has cultivated over 400,000 talented young people of various specialties, and has been making significant contributions for the country and the regional economic and social development.