One of the national key universities, South China Agricultural University is a “211 Project” university sponsored by both Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Agriculture during the ninth and tenth “Five-year Plan”. The university is also ranked to be “excellent” by the Inspection for Undergraduate Education organized by the Ministry of Education. Situated at Guangzhou, the “city of flowers”, the university enjoys beautiful scenery and pleasant environment. The campus covers an area of over 8250 mu (550 hectares), and the total gross floor area is over 1.37 million square meters.
After a century-long development, the university has formed valuable tradition and shaped distinguished features as reflected by the university motto “Upgrading Integrity, Broadening Knowledge, Pursuing Truth, Seeking Breakthroughs”. A multi-layer educational system with graduate, undergraduate and continuing education is established. The university has 88 undergraduate programs, 12 primary disciplines authorized to confer doctorate degrees, 23 primary disciplines to confer master's degrees, 45 doctorate programs, 117 master degree programs, 6 national key disciplines (1 under construction), 5 key disciplines of the Ministry of Agriculture, 12 Guangdong provincial key primary disciplines, 4 provincial key secondary disciplines and 1 key discipline of the State Bureau of Forestry. There are 22 colleges (departments): College of Agronomy, College of Resources and Environment, College of Economics and Management, College of Horticulture, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Engineering, College of Life Sciences, College of Animal Sciences, College of Food Sciences, College of Forestry, College of Liberal Arts and Law Studies, College of Sciences, College of Information, College of Software Engineering, College of Arts, College of Foreign Studies, College of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, College of Public Management, Department of Ideological and Political Studies, Department of Physical Education, College of Continuing Education and the Pear River College (independent college). The total enrollment of regular students is over 42,000, comprising 38,000 undergraduates, 4,000 graduates and 73 foreign students from 33 countries.
