The school can be traced back to East Sichuan Normal School as early as 1906, and 1936 was renamed Sichuan Institute of Education. 1950, Sichuan Institute of Education merged with the National Women's Teachers College to form Southwest Normal College, and the departments of agriculture, horticulture and agricultural products manufacturing merged with the private Xianghui College founded by 1946 to form Southwest Agricultural College.
From 65438 to 0985, the two schools were renamed Southwest Normal University and Southwest Agricultural University respectively. In 2000, Chongqing Light Industry Vocational College was merged into Southwest Normal University; 200 1, Southwest Agricultural University, Sichuan Animal Husbandry and Veterinary College and Citrus Institute of China Academy of Agricultural Sciences merged to form a new Southwest Agricultural University. In 2005, Southwest Normal University and Southwest Agricultural University merged to form Southwest University.