Founded in 1907, Tongji University is one of China's earliest national universities and a key institution directly under the Ministry of Education, jointly supported by the Shanghai Municipal Government. It is a "Project 211" and "Project 985" university, and one of the Class A institutions in China's World-Class University Construction Program. After 119 years of development, Tongji has become a comprehensive, research-oriented, and international university with distinctive features and significant influence both domestically and globally. In the 2027 QS World University Rankings, Tongji ranked 146th globally; in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, it ranked 141st globally, marking its first entry into the global top 150; in the U.S. News Best Global Universities Rankings, it ranked 110th; and in the Shanghai Ranking Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), it ranked within the 101–150 range.

Tongji University offers a complete range of disciplines, spanning 11 disciplinary categories: engineering, science, medicine, management, economics, philosophy, literature, law, education, art, and interdisciplinary studies. The university enjoys international recognition across multiple fields—its Civil Engineering program ranks first globally in the U.S. News World University Subject Rankings, a distinction it has held for many consecutive years; its Art and Design program ranks 16th globally in the QS Subject Rankings; and its Architecture and Built Environment program ranks 12th globally. The university comprises 33 academic schools and 12 affiliated hospitals, across four main campuses.

Tongji University currently has 18,920 full-time undergraduates, 12,713 master's students, 9,942 doctoral candidates, and 4,426 international students. The university has 3,206 full-time faculty members, among whom 18 are academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (including dual-appointed), 29 are academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (including dual-appointed); faculty members also hold 39 memberships in other international academies. The university hosts 124 research platforms at or above the provincial and ministerial level, including 6 national key laboratories and 6 national engineering (technology) research centers.

Committed to cultivating top-tier talent with global vision and innovative capacity, Tongji has always regarded undergraduate education as its foundation and graduate education as its path to excellence. To date, the university has graduated more than 400,000 students, with 293 alumni elected as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Tongji actively builds an international educational environment with over 300 global partner institutions and 13 international cooperative platform schools, including those established with Germany, France, Italy, Finland, Spain, and the UN Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD). Each year, the university admits over 4,000 international students from more than 130 countries and regions, providing a high-quality platform for learning and research for students from around the world. According to the Times Higher Education 2025 International Collaboration ranking, Tongji University has risen to No.1 among mainland Chinese universities.

Tongji serves the world, upholds science, leads through innovation, and pursues excellence"—today's Tongji University is striving toward its goal of becoming a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, and warmly welcomes outstanding students from around the globe to join Tongji in exploring the frontiers of knowledge.