Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) began as a business program at the Nanjing Higher Normal School in 1917. Yang Xingfo, a well-known social activist and patriotic democrat, was appointed as program director. In 1921, as part of the plan to establish the National Southeast University based on Nanjing Higher Normal School, the business program was restructured and transferred to Shanghai, where it established Shanghai University of Commerce under National Southeast University. This university was the first commercial university in China's history of education. Guo Bingwen, a renowned educator, acted as president, and Ma Yinchu, a well-known economist, was the provost.

In 1932, the university split and became known as the National Shanghai College of Commerce, the only national undergraduate business school in China at the time. In 1950, the university was renamed as the Shanghai College of Finance and Economics, and in 1985, it was renamed as Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. In 2000, the university became subordinate to the Ministry of Education and it is now jointly developed by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.

After generations of hard work and unremitting efforts, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics has become a multi-disciplinary key university that focuses on finance and economics and maintains coordinated development in economics, management, law, arts and science. The university covers an area of about 136 acres (826 mu) and consists of three campuses, with the main campus at No. 777 Guoding Road. The univertisy currently has a total enrollment of 18299 students, including 8071 undergraduate students, 7151 master's students, 1401 doctoral students, 355 international students, 1290 continuing education students, and 31 preparatory students.

SUFE holds top-tier positions in numerous global rankings. Notably, it is ranked 1st in Asia and globally for Economics & Computation (CS Rankings 2022–2026), and 1st in China among finance and economics universities (Shanghai Ranking 2026). Other key achievements include: MBA – 2nd in Asia and 15th worldwide (FT 2025); Economics and Business – 9th in China and 33rd globally (U.S. News 2026–2027); Finance – 6th in China and 37th globally (Shanghai Ranking 2025); Economics & Econometrics – 6th in China and 64th globally (QS 2026); EMBA – 17th in Asia (QS EMBA 2025). Furthermore, SUFE is among the global top 1% in four ESI fields as of July 2026.