It is a 985 university and a 2 1 1 university, with 22 universities in China. According to China Education Online, Shandong University is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education of People's Republic of China (PRC). It is a sub-ministerial system directly under the central government, ranking among the national "double first-class", "985 Project" and "2 1 1 Project", and selected as "20 165438 Plan" and "Everest Plan". China University ranked 22nd in the soft science rankings in 2023.