Established in 1958, the School of Highway has evolved through various historical phases, including the Department of Highway of Xi'an Highway University and the School of Highway Engineering of Xi'an Highway Jiaotong University. It is now a key school under the national "211 Project" and the "985 Advantageous Discipline Innovation Platform." As the leading school of Chang'an University in building the "World-Class Discipline" of transportation engineering, the School of Highway has, for over 60 years, fully implemented the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education. Generations of faculty have remained true to their original aspirations, and decades of accumulated efforts have enabled the school to provide comprehensive support for the "Belt and Road" Initiative, the national strategy of "Building a Strong Transportation Country," and regional socio-economic development. These achievements have been highly praised by Chinese leaders and relevant ministries under the State Council.
The school boasts a talented and renowned faculty. It currently comprises seven departments, three administrative offices, and three centers, with a total of 290 staff members (including 246 full-time teachers and 44 engineering experimental and administrative personnel). Among them, there are 75 professors, 95 associate professors, 67 doctoral supervisors, and 162 master's supervisors. The school continuously refines and innovates its talent recruitment and selection mechanisms, having attracted and nurtured 22 national high-level talents, including an academician of the Singapore Engineering Academy, and 71 provincial and ministerial-level high-level talents. It has established 14 national and provincial-level scientific innovation teams, 3 teaching teams, and 2 national and provincial-level "Huang Danian-Style Teacher Teams."
The school gathers outstanding talents who courageously shoulder their mission. Currently, it has 1,957 undergraduate students, 1,681 master's students, 547 doctoral students, and 57 international students. Over the past 60 years, the school has cultivated more than 60,000 graduates at various levels. Its outstanding alumni are spread across the globe, including a "group of scientists" leading the academic forefront of highway transportation, a "group of chief engineers" responsible for major projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a "group of political elites" serving the development of the transportation industry, and a "group of business elites" who have established listed companies.
The school's discipline and professional system covers comprehensive transportation infrastructure engineering fields such as roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways. It has established a talent cultivation system for top-notch innovative talents, engineering leading talents, and international compound talents. The school offers doctoral and master's degree programs in two first-level disciplines: Transportation Engineering and Civil Engineering. It has also approved professional doctoral degree programs in Transportation and Civil Hydraulic Engineering. The school offers two undergraduate programs: Road, Bridge, and River-Crossing Engineering (ranked A+ in China's Soft Science Subject ranking) and Urban Underground Space Engineering, as well as special talent cultivation projects such as the Mao Yisheng Class and the International Engineering Class. These efforts fully support the construction of the Sino-foreign cooperative education program in Road, Bridge, and River-Crossing Engineering. The Road, Bridge, and River-Crossing Engineering program has been selected as a national first-class undergraduate program, becoming the first specialized program in China to pass national engineering education certification. It has also approved the establishment of a national virtual teaching and research office and developed 12 national and provincial-level ideological and political demonstration courses and first-class courses. The school has won 4 national teaching achievement awards, 4 special prizes and 4 first prizes in Shaanxi Province teaching achievement awards, and has been selected as a "National Advanced Collective in Textbook Construction."
The School has strengthened the development of scientific research platforms and bases, making them sources of theoretical research and technological innovation. It currently operates 14 national and provincial-level key research platforms, including the "111 Program" Innovative Intelligence Base, International Joint Cooperation Laboratory, National Engineering Research Center, Key Laboratory and Engineering Center of the Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory and Field Scientific Observation Research Base of the Transportation Industry, Key Laboratory of Civil Aviation Airports, Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory, and International Joint Research Center. Equipped with a range of world-class experimental facilities, these platforms provide solid foundational support for talent cultivation and scientific research. They also offer high-quality and efficient technological services to sectors such as highway transportation planning, surveying, design, and construction.
With robust scientific research capabilities, the School is committed to becoming a national strategic scientific force in the highway transportation sector. In recent years, it has undertaken a large number of major (key) research projects, including the "973 Program," "863 Program," National Key Technology Support Program, National Key R&D Program, and key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The School's annual research funding exceeds 120 million RMB. It has received 312 scientific and technological awards at the provincial and ministerial levels or above, including three first-place and ten second-place national awards. The School leads in academic research directions such as road construction theory and durability technology in special environments, design theory and health monitoring technology for long-span bridges, structural theory and support technology for complex tunnel engineering, and composite foundation theory and stabilization technology for special soils. Innovative achievements have been applied to mega-projects of national strategic importance, such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge-Tunnel Cluster and the Beijing Daxing International Airport. These contributions have supported the construction of major projects including the world’s longest-span cable-stayed road-rail bridge (Shanghai–Nantong Yangtze River Bridge), the world’s highest-altitude highway (Qinghai–Tibet Highway), the world’s longest expressway tunnel (Qinling Zhongnanshan Tunnel), and China’s first desert expressway (Yulin–Jingbian Expressway). These efforts have advanced scientific progress and development in China’s highway transportation sector, generating significant social and economic benefits.
The School places great emphasis on international exchange and cooperation. It has established various forms of bilateral and multilateral collaborative relationships with over 100 renowned universities and research institutions across nearly 30 countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and Brazil. These collaborations include the establishment of joint research centers, the Highway Transportation International Standards Coordination and Promotion Plan, and the CSC Innovative Talent Joint Training Program. Such initiatives have contributed to the overall enhancement of the School's capabilities, while also elevating its international influence and academic standing.
"I will mount the long wind and break the waves, setting my cloud-white sail to cross the sea which is dark." Facing the future, the School of Highway will always hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, guided by the Xi JinPing Thought on Socialism with Characteristics for the New Era. It will accelerate the construction of its transportation engineering discipline as a "world-class discipline", striving to build itself into a high-level research-oriented institution characterized by "distinctive features, outstanding advantages, domestic leadership, and global excellence" at the earliest date.
(Updated in August 2025)
