Founded in 1898, Peking University (PKU) is the first national university in Chinese modern history. Peking University now consists of five faculties: Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences, Medicine, and Information and Engineering. The University has 53 colleges and departments, and offers 120 undergraduate programs, 242 graduate programs, and 212 doctoral programs. While still emphasizing fundamental sciences, the university has paid special attention to the development of applied sciences. In October 2013, there were 14116 undergraduate students, 13665 postgraduate students and 8134 doctoral candidates. There were also approximately 3574 long-term international students from 116 different countries enrolled in various programs on campus; among whom 2540 were Degree-Seeking students.
 
Peking University is also known for outstanding research facilities and highly qualified teachers and researchers with extensive research interests and in-depth knowledge. Today the University has 6441 full-time faculties, of whom 1,701 are professors and 2,037 are associate professors, along with 63 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 8 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. At present, Peking University has 11 national key laboratories, 86 state key laboratories, 2 national engineering research centers and 8 affiliated hospitals and health centers.
 
The Peking University library is the largest university library in Asia, with a collection of 9.0195 million books, as well as Chinese and foreign journals and newspapers. The library also serves as a comprehensive modern information center.