Shandong University (simplified Chinese: 山东大学; traditional Chinese: 山東大學; pinyin: Shāndōng Dàxué, abbreviated as Shanda, simplified Chinese: 山大; pinyin: Shāndà, English acronym SDU) is a public comprehensive university in Shandong, China. It is one of the largest universities in China by student population (57,500 full-time students in 2009) and is supported directly by the national government. Present-day Shandong University is the result of multiple mergers as well as splits and restructurings that have involved more than a dozen academic institutions over time. The oldest of Shandong University's precursor institutions, Cheeloo University, was founded by American and English mission agencies in the late 19th century (as Tengchow College of Liberal Arts in Penglai). Tengchow College was the first modern institution of higher learning in China. Shandong University derives its official founding date from the Imperial Shandong University (Chinese: 山东大学堂; pinyin: Shāndōng Dàxué Táng) established in Jinan in November 1901 as the second modern national university in the country.