Yunnan University's (YNU) history can be traced back to 1922, when it was known as Private Donglu University.
Officially founded in 1954 with a history that started in 1925, Kunming University of Science and Technology (KUST) is one of the top 100 universities in China, and the largest university and the only polytechnic university in Yunnan province.
In 1933, Donglu University initiated a specialized associate program in medicine which grew into today's Kunming Medical University (KMU). In 1937, the program was expanded and became known as the School of Medicine of Yunnan University.
Yunnan Agricultural University, established in 1938, is a provincial key university in Kunming, Yunnan's capital city.
Yunnan Arts University, set up in 1959, is a comprehensive arts university with distinctive characteristics.
Yunnan Normal University, formerly the teaching college of National Southwestern Associated University (Xinan Lianda), was set up in 1946. It was named Yunnan Normal University in 1984.
Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, set up in 1951, began to enroll undergraduate students in 1981 and was named among the province’s key universities by the Yunnan Provincial People's Government in 1995.
Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, established in 1960 in Kunming, was approved to confer master's and doctoral degrees in 1986 and 2018.
