The predecessor of Southeast University can be traced back to Sanjiang Normal School, founded by 1902, and has gone through the running periods of National Southeast University, National Fourth Sun Yat-sen University, Jiangsu University, Engineering College of National Central University, Engineering College of National Nanjing University and Engineering College of Nanjing University.

It is located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, directly under the Ministry of Education of China, and jointly built by the Ministry of Education and Jiangsu Province. It is a national "double first-class" construction university and a key construction university of "985 Project" and "2 1 1 Project". This school has been selected into "20 1 1 plan", "kloc-0/1plan", "excellent engineer education and training plan", "excellent doctor education and training plan", "national college students' innovation experiment plan" and "national college students' innovation and entrepreneurship training plan", as well as national demonstration colleges for deepening the reform of innovation and entrepreneurship education.