Jilin Normal University

Jilin Normal University is a key university in Jilin Province. Founded in 1958 in Siping, the heroic city at the heart of the Songliao Plain, it was initially Siping Teachers College. Tonghua Teachers College and Baicheng Teachers College were incorporated in September 1962. In February 1966, it merged with Jilin Teachers College to form a new Siping Teachers College, which became Siping Normal College in November 1973. In March 2002, the Ministry of Education formally approved its renaming as Jilin Normal University. Li Peng, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, wrote the inscription, “Develop more outstanding talent for economic development and social progress.” In December 2004, the Jilin Provincial Education Department designated it a provincial key university.

Under the leadership of Party committees and governments at all levels, it has undertaken the mission of educating people for the Party and talent for the country. Over more than 60 years, it has developed an educational system integrating undergraduate, postgraduate, international student and continuing education, with teacher education as its distinctive strength and coordinated multidisciplinary development. Its current Party Committee Secretary is Mei Lina and its President is Yang Xiaotian.

Its Siping and Changchun campuses cover 1 million square meters, with 680000 square meters of buildings, comfortable surroundings and comprehensive infrastructure and facilities. It has 20 schools, 1 teaching department, 66 research platforms at provincial or ministerial level or above, and 416 laboratories. Teaching and research equipment is worth RMB 728 million, fixed assets total RMB 2.042 billion, and the library holds 2.3827 million volumes.

It has 18964 full-time undergraduates, 3528 postgraduate students, more than 730 Chinese Government Scholarship and provincial government scholarship degree students, exchange students and short-term language students, and 1620 junior college students. Its 1657 faculty and staff include 221 with full senior and 504 with associate senior titles, 99 doctoral and 1014 master’s supervisors. Its talent includes 12 State Council special allowance recipients, 3 National Outstanding Teachers, 1 National Outstanding Science and Technology Worker, 3 Ministry of Education New Century Excellent Talents, 3 Jilin senior expert selections, 33 Jilin top innovative talent selections, 17 Jilin young and middle-aged professional and technical talents with outstanding contributions, 3 provincial government allowance recipients, 5 Changbai Mountain Scholars or distinguished skills teachers, 2 Jilin chief professors, 15 provincial distinguished teachers, 9 provincial outstanding teachers, 3 reserve candidates for provincial cross-century academic and scientific leaders, 5 provincial young and middle-aged key teachers, 4 provincial rising teaching stars and 2 provincial outstanding innovation and entrepreneurship talents. The provincial Party committee and government have named it an Advanced Institution for Talent Work.

Teaching and education are central, and the university maintains its undergraduate strengths. Its 64 undergraduate programs cover 9 categories: literature, history, law, education, science, engineering, the arts, management and economics. These include 11 national first-class undergraduate program development sites, 1 national comprehensive reform pilot and 5 national distinctive program development sites. It participates in the Ministry of Education’s Excellent Teacher Training Reform Program. Its national teaching resources include 15 first-class undergraduate courses, 1 approved quality resource-sharing teacher education course, 2 quality open video courses, 1 experimental teaching demonstration center, 1 off-campus practice base for university students, 1 university student entrepreneurship internship base and 1 faculty development demonstration project. Provincial resources include 14 first-class undergraduate program development sites, 13 distinctive high-level programs, 7 flagship programs, 12 distinctive program development sites, 4 distinctive high-level programs or clusters, 4 transformation and development demonstration programs or clusters, 5 comprehensive university-enterprise reform projects for applied undergraduate programs or clusters, 3 Excellent Engineer Education and Training pilot programs, and 3 Excellent Engineer Education and Training Plan 2.0 programs. It has 1 provincial higher education teaching reform research base, 3 basic discipline outstanding student training bases, 3 off-campus practical teaching bases for outstanding talent, 2 undergraduate talent development reform demonstration projects, 5 experimental zones for innovative talent development, 16 first-class undergraduate courses and 12 model courses integrating ideological and political education. It has 5 provincial gold course development projects, 28 quality courses, 4 approved quality resource-sharing teacher education courses and 67 outstanding courses; 3 provincial Huang Danian-style university teacher teams, 13 outstanding teaching teams and 1 demonstration research center for integrating ideological and political education into courses; and 9 experimental teaching demonstration centers, 4 off-campus practice education bases for university students, 3 teaching and training bases, 1 language promotion base, 1 engineering innovation training center, 1 university student innovation and entrepreneurship base, 1 innovation and entrepreneurship school, 1 innovation and entrepreneurship demonstration base, 1 modern industry school, 1 virtual teaching and research office, and 1 innovative technology school. Its School of Marxism was selected among Jilin’s first key Marxism schools, and the provincial Party committee’s Publicity Department jointly supports its School of Journalism and Communication.

The university has received national teaching achievement awards 8 times, 83 provincial teaching achievement awards and 72 provincial educational technology achievement awards. It is a National Cultural Quality Education Base for University Students, a Jilin demonstration base for university student cultural quality education, and a Jilin practice base for university student mental health education. Students enjoy rich extracurricular activities and have repeatedly achieved strong results in the China International College Student Innovation Competition, Challenge Cup National University Student Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition, Creating Youth National University Student Entrepreneurship Competition, and national university student arts showcases. It has been named an Advanced Institution for the national summer Three Visits to the Countryside social practice initiative for university and vocational student volunteers 8 times by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Ministry of Education, Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and All-China Students’ Federation. It has repeatedly received National May 4th Red Flag Youth League Committee, provincial May 4th Red Flag Youth League Committee Model and China Volunteer Work Organization Award honors.

The university actively develops postgraduate and international education. It became a doctoral degree-awarding institution in 2021 and received approval for a postdoctoral research station in 2023. It has 1 postdoctoral research station, 2 first-level doctoral authorizations, 1 doctoral talent training project serving special national needs, 20 first-level master’s authorizations and 13 professional master’s authorizations across 10 categories: philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, management and the arts. It has 13 provincial distinctive high-level disciplines and 4 distinctive high-level disciplinary clusters. Chemistry, materials science and engineering rank in the global ESI top 1%. It is a Chinese Government Scholarship international education institution and has educated undergraduate, master’s and Chinese preparatory students from more than 40 countries. It has an HSK Chinese Proficiency Test center. Since 2021, it has run 6 online and in-person Chinese Bridge projects for the Ministry of Education, with more than 4000 international students registering for its Chinese language and culture courses.

Research is developing rapidly. It has 1 Ministry of Education innovation team and 66 research innovation platforms at provincial level or above, including 2 Ministry of Education key laboratories. Since 2022, it has led more than 920 research projects at provincial or ministerial level or above, published over 2300 high-level papers and more than 120 academic books, received over 180 invention patents and more than 40 provincial or ministerial research awards.

International exchanges are active, with friendly partnerships involving more than one hundred universities and research institutions in over 20 countries and regions. Cooperation includes faculty and student mobility, academic exchanges, foreign expertise recruitment, international education, Chinese language promotion and cooperative education. Since 2011, it has supported more than 490 faculty overseas study or training visits and over 1000 student overseas visits through joint training, exchanges, cultural experiences, internships and practice. It has 3 Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs and 6 international undergraduate academic credit recognition course programs.

Upholding its motto, “Love of Learning Brings Knowledge; Earnest Practice Brings Benevolence,” the university develops high-quality applied talent for social and economic development. Teacher education graduates are widely welcomed and praised for strong foundations, capabilities, potential and qualities, enjoying a high reputation in basic education. Non-teacher education programs respond closely to social needs and emphasize professional character and skills, continually developing new core competitiveness. Graduates work across China’s 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

Since 1999, the university has been named a Model Collective by the Jilin Provincial Party Committee and Government for 4 consecutive rounds. In 2009, it received language standardization demonstration school recognition from the provincial education department and the Ministry of Education. In 2010, it became a Jilin Demonstration School for Law-Based Governance; in 2015, a Jilin Civilized Unit; in 2019, a provincial Civilized Campus; and in 2022, it retained the Jilin Civilized Campus title. Looking ahead, it will uphold the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. At the historic intersection of the Two Centenary Goals, it will implement the Party’s educational policy and the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education. It will pursue quality, talent, discipline leadership, research, law-based governance, cultural enrichment, openness and people’s well-being as foundations for development, seize opportunities and advance toward a high-level normal university. It seeks further achievements for Jilin’s comprehensive revitalization in the new era and the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

International students from all countries are welcome to study at Jilin Normal University.

University website: www.jlnu.edu.cn