BJTU is a national key university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education and now is jointly supported by the Ministry of Education, the China Railway Corporation (formerly known as the Ministry of Railways) and Beijing Municipal Government. BJTU is one of the first universities selected into the “National 211 Project” and the “985 Strength Discipline Innovation Platform” project, one of the first institutions authorized to confer master’s and doctoral degrees.

Regarding the cultivation of talents as its basic responsibility, under the guidance of the concept of general education, teach according to the disciplines and advocate exploration, and adhering to the requirements known as wide caliber, thick foundation, distinctive features, strong ability，seeking innovation, BJTU intends to cultivate the high-quality talents with a sound personality and social responsibility, innovative spirit and international vision.

Since its establishment, the university has made great contribution to promoting national economic and social progress and has developed into a key base for training talents tackling vital problems concerning technologies and policies in reforming and modernizing railway. It currently has 14 schools, namely, School of Electronics and Information Engineering, School of Computer and Information Technology, School of Economics and Management, School of Traffic and Transportation, School of Civil Engineering, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering, School of Science, School of Languages and Communication Studies, School of Software Engineering, School of Marxism, School of Architecture and Design, School of Law, and School of Information Secret and Security Technology, etc. The university has also established a new Weihai campus and put it into use in 2015. The university now has 14,173 undergraduate students, 7,842 graduate students, 2,801 doctoral students, 7,867 professional degree students and 8,424 adult students. There are 747 long-term international students in total.

On the basis of the demand of the country and industry, relying on 8 national key disciplines and 46 research platforms at ministry/provincial level and above, BJTU has grown into a multidisciplinary university with coordinated development of such disciplines as science, engineering, humanities, law, economies, management science and art. Through years of rapid development, the university now has 58 undergraduate specialties. In the third round of the national discipline assessment, System Science ranked first, Traffic and Transportation Engineering ranked third, and Information and Telecommunication Engineering ranked eighth, in which System Science has ranked first in three consecutive rounds of assessment. 6 disciplines have entered the QS World University Ranking Top 400. It also has 13 National-level Feature Undergraduate Programs and 9 Municipal-level Feature Undergraduate Programs.

Taking the development of students as the center, BJTU has continuously promoted the reform and innovation of the cultivation mode. By adapting to the new situations of the recruitment and professional certification, the university has made reforms on undergraduate programs based on the various disciplines and the concept of OBE (Outcome Based Education). Now, the university has 18 projects on researching the innovation of cultivation mode. BJTU also pays attention to building up collaboration in running school programs with foreign universities, of which 3 majors have been set up. Most of collaboration in running school programs are implemented in Weihai campus. By cooperating with foreign universities, Weihai campus mainly focuses on the construction of four disciplines, including Intelligent Transportation, New Energy and Intelligent Manufacturing, Intelligent Services and Technology and International Business.

Sticking to the improvement of the teaching level, BJTU has made steady promotion on the cultivation of talents. In recent years, BJTU was awarded 1 super prize, 3 first prizes and 18 second prizes of National Teaching Achievements and 1 super prize, 40 first prizes and 46 second prizes of Beijing Municipal Teaching Achievements. 3 National Pilot Education Reform Programs and 1 National Pilot Education Reform School of BJTU were approved. 8 undergraduate programs are listed in the National Excellent Engineer Education Program. In addition, BJTU owns 7 National Pilot Comprehensive Reform Programs, 13 National Characteristic Programs, 9 Beijing Municipal Characteristic Programs, 6 National Experimental Teaching Centers, 9 Beijing Municipal Experimental Teaching Centers, 3 National Virtual Simulation Experiment Teaching Center, 3 National Off-campus Practice Base for College Students, 7 National Engineering Practice and Education Centers, 8 National Teaching Teams, 10 Beijing Municipal Teaching Teams, 1 in the National High-level personnel of special support program, 26 Beijing City Renowned Teachers, 6 Excellent Video Open Courses, 19 Resource-Sharing Courses, 32 National Excellent Courses, 39 Beijing Municipal Excellent Courses, 42 textbooks of 34 categories of the National Undergraduate Textbook Plan, 9 categories of National Excellent Textbooks, 89 categories of Beijing Municipal Excellent Textbooks, 1 National Faculty and Teaching Development Center, 1 National Cultural Quality Education Base for College Students and 2 National Engineering Teaching Bases of Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Physics.