Hunan University, in Changsha, Hunan province, is a member of Project 985 and Project 211, which are sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China aiming to become a world-class university. It is an elite university, with Chinese Ministry of Education Class B Double First Class University status. Hunan University traces its history back to the Yuelu Shuyuan Academy founded in 976 AD during the Song Dynasty. Shuyuan were one form of higher learning school in China; another form was government-sponsored schools including imperial central school Taixue or Guozijian and regional schools. The full-time student body totals nearly 36,000, of which over 20,000 are undergraduates and 15,000 are graduates. The University has established national basic-course teaching bases in science and engineering (chemistry), national demonstration college of software, national undergraduates' cultural-quality education base, 7 national-level teaching teams, 6 bilingual model courses, 6 experimental projects of innovative talent cultivation, 4 national demonstration centers of experimental teaching, 5 national comprehensive reform pilot majors for the Program of Culturing Outstanding Engineers, 5 national undergraduate internship bases, and one national VR experimental teaching center.
