Dalian University for Nationalities is located in Jinzhou District, Dalian City, Liaoning Province. It is a university directly under the State Ethnic Affairs Commission and a university directly under the central ministries and commissions. It was founded by the people of China, the Ministry of Education, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the China Academy of Sciences, the Liaoning Provincial People's Government and the Dalian Municipal People's Government. It is a comprehensive national higher education institution focusing on engineering and applied disciplines. It has been selected into the national pilot school of education system reform, the first batch of national college English teaching reform demonstration schools, the first batch of national graduate employment typical experience universities, the national college students' innovation and entrepreneurship training program, and the first batch of new engineering research and practice projects of the Ministry of Education. Dalian University of Technology provides counterpart support to Dalian University for Nationalities, a member of CDIO Engineering Education Alliance.

The school was established in 1984, enrolled in 1993 and formally established in 1997. In 2006, it was jointly established by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Liaoning Provincial Government and the Dalian Municipal Government.

As of July, 20 19, the school has two campuses, namely Development Zone and Jinshitan, covering an area of more than 600 mu, 20 teaching and research sections, 54 undergraduate majors, 2 first-class master's programs, 1 master's degree authorization points and 1200 staff.