Guizhou University (Chinese: 贵州大学; Pinyin: Guìzhōu Dàxué; abbreviation: 贵大 GuìDà) is a public coeducational university, located in the suburban outskirts of Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou Province, China. The university is one of the key 211 Project universities on mainland China. Originally founded in 1902, Guizhou University is one of the province’s seven major universities and the flagship institution of higher learning in Guizhou. It is also one of the largest universities in the Southwest of China catering to over thirty thousand students. The university predecessor was Guizhou Institute of Higher Learning (贵州大学堂) founded in 1902. Later, it was turned into Provincial Guizhou University (省立贵州大学), National Guizhou College of Agriculture and Engineering (国立贵州农工学院), and National Guizhou University (国立贵州大学). In 1997, Guizhou Agricultural College, Guizhou Institute of Arts, and Guizhou Agricultural Cadre-Training School were merged into Guizhou University. In 2004, Guizhou University of Technology merged with Guizhou University and formed the current Guizhou University. In 2005, the University was accredited a membership of the Project 211 by the Ministry of Education.