Central South University, located in Changsha, Hunan Province, is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education of People's Republic of China (PRC). Directly under the Ministry of Education, it ranks among the national "double first-class", "985 project" and "local imitation 2 1 1 project". Selected into the national "20 1 1 plan", "kloc-0/1plan", "strong foundation plan", outstanding engineer education and training plan Pi Chun, outstanding doctor education and training plan, outstanding legal talent education and training plan, national innovative talent training demonstration base,

National College Students' Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program, National Postgraduate Program for Building a High-level University, New Engineering Research and Practice Project, China Government Scholarship Receiving Institution for Foreign Students in China, Independent Examination Institution for Degree Authorization, Independent Grading University, Medical "Two-fiber First-class" Construction Alliance, National Intellectual Property Demonstration University, Top-notch Student Training Program 2.0 Base for Basic Subjects, China-Central Asian University Alliance, China-Russia Jiaotong University Alliance,

The Higher School of Public Health is one of the first five universities in China to implement eight-year medical education (joint study of bachelor's and doctoral degrees). Central South University was formed in April 2000 by the merger of Hunan Medical University, Changsha Railway Institute and Central South University of Technology.

The former Central South University of Technology was formerly known as Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, founded in 1952, and the former Changsha Railway Institute was formerly known as Central South Institute of Architecture and Engineering, founded in 1953. The main disciplines of the two universities can be traced back to Hunan Higher Industrial School, which was founded in 1903. Hunan Medical University, formerly known as Xiangya Medical College, was founded in 19 14 and is one of the earliest institutions of higher learning in western medicine in China.