Yantai University is located in Yantai, a national famous historical and cultural city and the best charming city in China. It is a key comprehensive university in Shandong Province and a high-level university with "strong characteristics" in Shandong Province. Founded in July 1984, the University was jointly aided by Peking University and Tsinghua University. The school is adjacent to the Yellow Sea in the East and green mountains in the West. It has a beautiful environment and pleasant climate. It is the coastal University closest to the sea and with the longest coastline in China.
The University officially enrolled students in 1985 and became the authorized unit of master's degree in 1998. In March 2001, with the approval of Shandong provincial government, the former Shandong building materials industry school and the former Shandong fisheries school were incorporated into Yantai University. In 2012, it was approved as one of the first construction units of the famous school project in Shandong Province. In the same year, it was approved as a doctoral talent training project to serve the special needs of the country. In 2019, it became a provincial and Municipal University. The disciplines of "pharmacy" and "material science and Engineering" were selected as the construction projects of "first-class disciplines" in Shandong Province. In 2020, the University was approved to recruit postdoctoral students and was selected into the ranks of "strong characteristics" high-level universities in Shandong Province. The two disciplines of law and pharmacy were selected into the ranks of "advantageous and characteristic disciplines" in Shandong Province. High level disciplines are shortlisted in the 901-1000 Academic Ranking of soft science world university.