The school is public, with an undergraduate level and a type of science and engineering, covering an area of 5,463 mu. The school address is: No.59, the middle section of Qinglong Avenue, Fucheng District, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province.

Southwest University of Science and Technology is located in China Science and Technology City-Mianyang City, Sichuan Province. The school is jointly established by the Sichuan Provincial People's Government and the Ministry of Education, and jointly established by the Sichuan Provincial People's Government and the National Bureau of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. It was identified as one of the western 14 universities by the Ministry of Education. Southwest University of Science and Technology originated from Chongqing No.1 Civil Engineering School founded by 1952 and Chongqing Civil Engineering School formed by the merger of the two schools.

Since its establishment, the school has gone through several relocations and an extraordinary course of entrepreneurship, development and growth. Under the background of deepening the reform of higher education system, developing the western region and building China (Mianyang) Science and Technology City, on August 23, 2000, the Ministry of Education approved the merger of Southwest Institute of Technology and Mianyang Institute of Economics and Technology to form Southwest University of Science and Technology.