Chang 'an University is located in the ancient capital Xi, directly under the Ministry of Education of People's Republic of China (PRC). It is a "2 1 1 project" national key construction university established by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government. It is a national "985 Engineering Advantage Discipline Innovation Platform" and a national university in the world. It has been selected into the national "11plan", the "excellent engineer education and training plan" of the Ministry of Education, the national postgraduate plan for building a high-level university, the national undergraduate innovation and entrepreneurship training plan and the national new engineering research and practice project. It is a member of the high-quality resource sharing alliance of high-level industry-specific universities and the Sino-Russian Jiaotong University Alliance. It is one of the earliest universities in China to undertake foreign aid education and recruit students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. It is a scholarship receiving institution of China government for overseas students in China, a national cultural quality education base for college students, a selection and training base for reserve police officers of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force, and the first batch of scientific and technological achievements transformation and technology transfer bases in colleges and universities. It has the only university comprehensive automobile testing ground in the world.
In 2000, Chang 'an University was formed by the merger of Xi 'an Highway Jiaotong University, Xi 'an Engineering College and Northwest Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture, which was founded in the early 1950s.