It was funded by the Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship Program, which consisted of money from indemnities China had paid the United States following the Boxer Rebellion. It was first a preparatory school for students later sent by the government to study in the United States. The faculty members for sciences were recruited by the YMCA from the United States and its graduates transferred directly to American schools as juniors upon graduation. In 1925, the school established its College Department and started its research institute on Chinese Study.

The Tsinghua Bell. In 1928, the authority officially changed its name to National Tsing Hua University (NTHU). During the Second World War in 1937, Tsinghua University along with Peking University and Nankai University, merged to form Changsha Temporary University in Changsha, and later National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming of Yunnan province. After the war, Tsinghua moved back to Beijing and resumed its operation.

After the communist takeover at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, which led to the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Tsinghua University's President Mei Yi-Qi, followed by some professors, fled to Taiwan where they established the National Tsing Hua Institute of Nuclear Technology in 1955, which later became National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan.
In 1952, China government regrouped the country's higher education institutions in an attempt to build a Soviet style system, with individual institutions tending to specialise in a certain field of study. Tsinghua University was disassembled, losing its law school, school of agriculture, school of sciences and humanities, and became a polytechnic engineering university. Even so, Tsinghua University remained in the top tier schools in China. In many years following this regroup, the school was commonly referred to as the "MIT of China." But since the 1980s, the university began to incorporate a multidisciplinary system. As a result, several schools were built and rebuilt. These included the School of Sciences, School of Business and Management, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tsinghua Law School, School of Public Policy and Management, and the Academy of Arts and Design.

Most national and international university rankings place Tsinghua as the best university in mainland China. Admission to Tsinghua is extremely competitive. Every year, many applicants scoring the highest in the National College Entrance Exams choose Tsinghua. In 2008, 215 out of 300 students who scored the top 10 in the 30 tested provinces and regions chose Tsinghua and 21 out of the 30 top scorers in each province and region chose the university.

The majority of selected students are national scholars and among the brightest high school graduates in the country. Admissions to its graduate schools are also daunting by any measure. For instance, only 16% of MBA applicants are admitted, making it as competitive as the renowned Wharton School MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania. The current Chinese president, Hu Jintao, is a former Tsinghua student who graduated with a degree in hydraulic engineering in 1964. The University's Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology is on a separate campus in a northern suburb of Beijing.
Tsinghua has a reputation for hosting some of the most distinguished guest speakers of any university in the world, with international leaders such as Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Henry Kissinger, Carlos Ghosn, and Henry Paulson, all recently giving lectures to the university community.
As of 2003, Tsinghua University had 12 colleges and 48 departments, 41 research institutes, 35 research centers, and 167 laboratories, including 15 national key laboratories. In September 2006, Peking Union Medical College was renamed to Peking Union Medical College, Tsinghua University, although the Peking Union Medical College, Tsinghua University and Tsinghua University remain two separate institutions. The university offers 51 bachelor's degree programs, 139 master's degree programs and 107 Ph.D. programs. Recently, Tsinghua has become the first Chinese university to offer a Master of Laws program in American law, through a cooperative venture with the Temple University Beasley School of Law. The university is a member of LAOTSE, an international network of leading universities in Europe and Asia. Each year, the University celebrates the Intellectual Property Summer Institute in cooperation with Franklin Pierce Law Center of Concord, New Hampshire. It has its own editorial, Tsinghua University Press.

? School of Architecture
o Department of Architecture
o Department of Urban Planning and Design
o Department of Building Science
o Department of Landscape Architecture
? School of Civil Engineering
o Department of Civil Engineering
o Department of Hydraulic Engineering
o Department of Construction Management
? School of Mechanical Engineering
o Department of Mechanical Engineering
o Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanology
o Department of Thermal Engineering
o Department of Automotive Engineering
o Department of Industrial Engineering
? School of Aerospace
o Department of Engineering Mechanics
o Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics Engineering
? School of Information Science and Technology
o Department of Electronic Engineering
o Department of Computer Science and Technology
o Department of Automation
o Institute of Microelectronics
o Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics
o School of Software
? Department of Environmental Science and Engineering
? Department of Electrical Engineering
? Department of Engineering Physics
? Department of Chemical Engineering
? Department of Materials Science and Engineering
? School of Sciences
o Department of Mathematics
o Department of Physics
o Department of Chemistry
? School of Life Sciences
? School of Humanities and Social Sciences
o Department of Philosophy
o Department of Chinese Language and Literature
o Department of Foreign Languages
o Department of History
o Department of Sociology
o Department of Political Science
o Department of International Relations
o Department of Psychology
? School of Economics and Management
o Department of Management Science and Engineering
o Department of Economicsx
o Department of Finance
o Department of Accounting
o Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
o Department of Human Resources and Organizational Behavior
o Department of Business Strategy and Policy
o Department of Marketing
? School of Public Policy & Management
? Tsinghua Law School
? Academy of Arts and Design
o Department of Art History
o Department of Industrial Design
o Department of Environmental Art Design
o Department of Ceramic Design
o Department of Visual Communication Design
o Department of Textile and Fashion Design
o Department of Art and Crafts
o Department of Painting
o Department of Sculpture
o Department of Information Art & Design
? School of Medicine
o Department of Medical Science
o Department of Pharmaceutical Science
o Department of Biomedical Engineering
? Peking Union Medical College
? School of Journalism and Communication
? Institute of Nuclear And New Energy Technology
? Department of Physical Education

Tsinghua's School of Economics and Management

The Tsinghua School of Economics and Management (SEM) is consistently ranked one of the best among business schools in China.[16] It is the first mainland Chinese institution outside of Hong Kong to have achieved the prestigious AACSB and EQUIS accreditations for its business and accounting programs, and Fudan University become the second one in 2010. Founded in 1984, SEM was the first economics and management school in China. Its Founding Dean, Professor ZHU Rongji, later became the fifth Premier of the People’s Republic of China. SEM is now among the premier business schools in Asia and enjoys world-class faculty, students, and research centers. It is the successor to Tsinghua University's Department of Economics, which was established in 1926. Since then, the school has built a powerful and influential alumni network. SEM has the largest student-exchange program in China (with more than 50 world-class business schools), and also maintains strong relationships with both domestic and multinational corporations.
SEM's International MBA program is one of the most prestigious such programs in the People's Republic of China. The entirely English program is offered in collaboration with the MIT Sloan School of Management. The school provides more than 100 MBA courses per year. Upon finishing their required courses, students can select from curricula of different tracks (enterprise management, finance and banking, enterprise innovation and management, accounting analysis and management control, e-commerce, international business administration, etc.). After two years of business and leadership education, students obtain a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Tsinghua University as well as both a certificate from the MIT Sloan School of Management and MIT Sloan affiliate alumni status. Besides the M.I.T.-Tsinghua International MBA program, international students with Chinese-language skills can also choose to apply to the full-time MBA and the part-time MBA.
SEM also offers an EMBA program in partnership with INSEAD. The Tsinghua-INSEAD Dual Degree Executive MBA program was initiated in 2006, and is the first program of its kind in China combining international business education with a focus on Asia. The program’s first class was opened in the summer of 2007. It targets highly motivated, internationally minded managers with substantial business experience. The program is taught jointly by the two schools’ faculties and focuses on developing the participants’ leadership skills, building their global mindsets, and honing their managerial talents. It combines the analytical rigor of an MBA with the managerial relevance of executive education. Upon successful completion of the program, participants are awarded two prestigious degrees: an EMBA degree by Tsinghua University and an MBA for Executives degree by INSEAD. Graduates become alumni of the two schools.[18]
Besides excellent professional programs like the MBA, SEM offers strong academic programs in a variety of disciplines. There are 8 majors in SEM, namely: management science and engineering, finance, economics, accounting, corporation strategy and policy, marketing, human resources management, and technology economics and management. The school also operates a number of prominent research centers, including: the Research Center for Contemporary Management, the Research Center for Technological Innovation, the National Entrepreneurship Research Center, the China Center for Financial Research, the National Center for Economic Research, the China Retail Research Center, the China Business Research Center, the Center for China in the World Economy, the Research Center for Contemporary Management and Technological Innovation, and the China Insurance and Risk Management Research Center.
Today both SEM's professional and academic programs are considered the premier training ground for China's business leaders, and SEM is one of three elite Chinese business schools gaining international recognition.

The Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication (TSJC) was established in April 2002. Its predecessor was Communication Studies in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature and its establishment of coincides with the development of media increasingly influencing world affairs in a time of fast-growing globalization. The school's research fields include International Communication, Film and Television Studies, New Media Studies, Media Operation and Management, and Business Journalism and are based on comprehensive academic research in journalism and communication theories. The objective of the school is to bring full advantage of Tsinghua University's comprehensive academic structure to Chinese and international media, to construct a first-rate discipline in journalism and communication studies, to cultivate talented professionals in the field and to explore advanced concepts in journalism and communication. The school also offers a two-year graduate program in international business journalism, sponsored by Bloomberg L.P. and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), that trains talented students and media professionals from around the globe in financial media and corporate communication.
The school has five research-oriented centers to organize and conduct academic research activities. They are: Center for International Communications Studies, Center for New Media Studies, Center for Film and Television Studies, Center for Media Management Studies and Center for Cultural Industry Studies.
The first and present dean of the school is Fan Jingyi, a notable chief editor of People's Daily during the period of 1990s.

The Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, was jointly founded by Tsinghua University and the Shenzhen Municipal Government. The school is directly affiliated with Tsinghua University in Beijing. The campus is located in the University Town of Shenzhen since October 18 2003.

? Ranked 1 in mainland China by China's Education Center 2007, 2006 and 2005, ranked 2 in 2010, 2009, and 2008
? Ranked 2 in mainland China by webometrics 2008
? Ranked 1 in mainland China by THE-QS World University Rankings in 2009 (known from 2010 onwards as the QS World University Rankings), ranked 2 in China 2007, 2006 and 2005

? Ranked 151-202 Worldwide in the Academic Ranking of World Universities by
Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2007, 151-200 in 2006, 153-202 in 2005,202-301 in 2004 and202-301 in 2003
? Ranked 214 Worldwide by Mines ParisTech 2007
? Ranked 217 Worldwide by webometrics 2010
? Ranked 40 Worldwide in 2007 by THE - QS World University Rankings (known from 2010 onwards as the QS World University Rankings), 28 Worldwide in 2006 and 62 Worldwide in 2005
? Ranked 49 worldwide by USNEWS,2009,
? Ranked 13 worldwide in the category of engineering and IT by USNEWS,2009,

The campus of Tsinghua University is located in northwest Beijing, in the Haidian district which was designated for universities and other academic institutes.
It is located on the former site of Qing Dynasty royal gardens and retains Chinese-style landscaping as well as some traditional buildings, but many of its buildings are also in the Western-style, reflecting the American influence in its history[citation needed]. Along with its rival the Peking University, it is known throughout China for having one of the most beautiful campuses.
The university's architect T. Chuang, a 1914 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, modeled his designs for the quadrangle and auditorium of Tsinghua on the Foellinger Auditorium, located on the quad at the University of Illinois.
The University's Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology is on a separate campus in a northern suburb of Beijing.

Tsinghua University has produced many notable graduates, especially in political sphere.These include current president Hu Jintao, current vice president Xi Jinping, current head of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo, former premier Zhu Rongji, former executive vice premier Huang Ju. Tsinghua also has two Nobel Prize winners, Tsung-Dao Lee and Yang Chen Ning. The latter is currently residing on Tsinghua campus. This is a list of people associated with Tsinghua University in China.

? Tsung-Dao Lee - physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (physics, 1957)
? Yang Chen Ning - physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (physics, 1957)

? Hu Jintao - current President of the People's Republic of China
? Min Chueh Chang - a co-inventor of the combined oral contraceptive pill (1933)
? Shiing-Shen Chern - mathematician, Wolf Prize winner (1984)
? C.H. Wang - philanthropist
? Mu Dan - poet
? Chao Ko - mathematician
? Zhao Jiuzhang - physicist
? Sun Li-jen - Kuomintang general
? Liang Shih-Chiu - scholar
? Wen Yiduo - writer, poet
? Feng Youlan - Chinese philosopher
? Zhang Yuzhe - astronomer
? Xinmin Zhan - engineer
? Fei Xiaotong - researcher of sociology and anthropology
? Qian Zhongshu - one of the most famous writers of pre-Revolutionary China, wrote Fortress Besieged
? Zhou Peiyuan - former president of Peking University
? Wu Guanzheng - member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China
? Huang Ju - Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
? Zhu Rongji - former Premier of the People's Republic of China
? Zhou Xiaochuan - governor of the People's Bank of China
? Jia Chunwang - head of Ministry of State Security 1985-1998, then Minister of Public Security

Liang Qichao was one of China's most groundbreaking scholars, journalists, philosophers, and reformists of the 20th century.

? Liang Qichao - famous philosopher and reformist during the Qing dynasty
? John L. Thornton - former president and co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs
? Tsiang Tingfu - historian and diplomat
? Wang Guowei
? Qin Hui
? David Daokui Li - economist and the Director of the Center for China in the World Economy (CCWE)
? Wang Hui
? Laurie Olin - landscape architect and author
? Liang Sicheng - architect and historian
? Lin Huiyin - architect, poet, and historian
? Chen Yinque - historian and linguist
? Norbert Wiener - theoretical and applied mathematician

The term Tsinghua clique refers to a group of Communist Chinese politicians that have graduated from Tsinghua University. They are members of the fourth generation of Chinese leadership, and are purported to hold reformist and hesitantly pro-democratic ideas (a number have studied in the United States following graduation from Tsinghua, and some are said to be influenced by the reform ideals of Hu Yaobang). In the PRC, their ascendance to power is likely to begin in 2008 at the 17th National Congress of the CPC.
Tsinghua graduates who have political prominence are disproportionately greater in number than graduates of other famous universities. Among the nine standing committees at the Politburo, there are four Tsinghua graduates; among the 24 Politburo committee members, there are five; and of all the "leaders of the party and the country", there are 10. Key figures are reported to include:
? Hu Jintao;
? Wu Bangguo, although he is generally considered more loyal to Jiang Zemin's Shanghai clique;
? Lin Wenyi, chairman of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League;
? Liu Yandong
? Xi Jinping.
Retired or deceased:
? Zhou Guanzhao;
? Zheng Tianxiang;
? Luo Longji;
? Fei Xiaotong;
? Qian Weichang;
? Peng Peiyun;
? Kang Shien;
? Wu Guanzheng;
? Hu Qili;
? Huang Ju;
? Yao Yilin;
? Song Ping;
? Zhu Rongji;
? Hu Qiaomu;
? Li Ximing;
? Wang Hanbin.
The Tsinghua clique also referred to a group of Nationalist Chinese politicians who held high power in the Republic of China government and fled to Taiwan with the government during the Chinese Civil War. All of them are deceased:
? Yeh Kung-chao;
? Yu Guohua;
? Yen Zhenxing;
? Mei Yiqi;
? Luo Jialun;
? Hu Shi
? Sun Li-jen.
? Shanghai clique
? Generations of Chinese leadership

Tsinghua University has signed agreements with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the renowned international accountancy body that offers the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification worldwide, to train professional accountants in China. Under the agreement, Tsinghua will develop the programme that under ACCA's syllabus for enabling China's accounting students to join the ACCA professional exam scheme at a higher level. Tsinghua will also recognise the Oxford Brookes University BSc Applied Accounting degree, which has been successfully developed in conjunction with ACCA and which enables students who have completed two parts of the ACCA qualification to apply for the Oxford Brookes degree.