Tsinghua University's predecessor, Tsinghua School, was founded in 1911 and renamed Tsinghua School in 1912. In 1928, it was renamed the National Tsinghua University. After the full-scale outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 1937, it moved south to Changsha, and established the National Changsha Temporary University with Peking University and Nankai University. In 1938, it moved to Kunming and was renamed the National Southwest Associated University. In 1946, he moved back to tsinghua campus, where there were 5 colleges and 26 departments of literature, law, science, engineering and agriculture.

After the adjustment of colleges and universities in 1952, Tsinghua University became a multi-disciplinary industrial university, focusing on training engineering and technical personnel for the country, and was known as the "cradle of red engineers". Since the reform and opening up, Tsinghua University has gradually established the long-term goal of building a world-class university and entered a new period of vigorous development. The school has successively restored or established science, arts, medicine and economic management disciplines, and established graduate schools and continuing education colleges. In 1999, the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts merged and established Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts. In 2012, graduate department, the People's Bank of China, merged into Wudaokou Finance College in Tsinghua University. With the strong support of the state and society, Tsinghua University has made great progress in personnel training, scientific research, social services, cultural inheritance and innovation, international cooperation and exchanges through the implementation of the "211 Project" and "985 Project" and the construction of "Double First Class". At present, Tsinghua University has 22 colleges and 59 departments, and has become a comprehensive, research-oriented and open university with 12 disciplines including science, engineering, literature, art, history, philosophy, economics, management, law, education, medicine and interdisciplinary subjects.