河北大学是教育部与河北省人民政府“部省合建”高校，也是河北省重点支持的国家一流大学建设一层次高校。

学校始建于1921年，初名天津工商大学，1970年，河北大学由天津迁至国家历史文化名城——河北省保定市。

学校占地2430亩，有五四路校区、七一路校区和裕华路校区等校区，建筑面积136万平方米，固定资产总值34亿元。设有一级学科博士点15个；一级学科硕士点46个，硕士专业学位授权类别30种；95个本科专业。学科专业分布在哲学、经济学、法学、教育学、文学、历史学、理学、工学、农学、医学、管理学、艺术学12大门类，是全国学科门类设置最齐全的高校之一。

学校现有全日制本科生、研究生等各类在籍学生约42000人，其中，全日制博士、硕士研究生6400余人，全日制本科生约28000人。现有教职员工3347人。

学校坚持开放办学，先后与世界上100多所高校建立起合作交流关系，设有教育部批准的中外合作办学机构——河北大学－中央兰开夏传媒与创意学院，在俄罗斯、马来西亚等国家设有汉语教学中心，承办了巴西里约热内卢天主教大学孔子学院、美国路易斯安那泽维尔大学孔子学院、毛里塔尼亚努瓦克肖特大学孔子学院、马来西亚彭亨大学孔子学院，为90多个国家、地区培养博士、硕士、学士及短期留学生3000余名，是“教育部留学出国人员培训与研究中心”试点高校、河北省首家具有接收中国政府奖学金生资格的高校，以及河北省首家入选国务院侨办“华文教育基地”的高校。

河北大学自发轫至今，历时九十余载。九十余年来，一代代学者捧土培根、筚路蓝缕，一代代学子努力向学、蔚为国用，历数代而共同育就了“实事求是”的校训传统，“博学、求真、惟恒、创新”的校风精神，并以此作为理想追求和价值取向，作育英才，服务社会，培养了近40万名优秀学子，校友遍及世界各地；创造了一大批原创性、前沿性科技成果，产生了蔚为大观的经济效益和社会效益。今天的河北大学，在河北省委、省政府与教育部、财政部等国家部委的重点建设下，各项工作日新月异，呈现蓬勃向上的发展态势。站在“部省合建”新平台上，全校师生按照学校第七次党代会确立的奋斗目标，齐心协力，攻坚克难，向着一流大学的建设目标阔步前行！

As a key comprehensive university, Hebei University (HBU) is co-constructed by Ministry of Education and the People's Government of Hebei Province. It is also one of the first-level universities participating in China’s construction plan of national first-class university and world-class disciplines, with strong support from the Hebei Provincial Government.

The university was originally founded as Tianjin Technology and Business University in 1921,  which was relocated in 1970 from Tianjin to a well-known historical and cultural city--Baoding in Hebei Province. 

Covering an area of 2430 mu, the university is consisted of the Main Campus, the Qiyi Road Campus and the Yuhua Road Campus, with a construction area of 1.33 million square meters. The total value of fixed assets is 3.2 billion RMB. There are 15 first-level disciplines authorized to offer doctoral degrees, 46 first-level disciplines authorized to award master degrees, 30 disciplines authorized to offer professional master degrees, and 95 undergraduate programs. As one of the universities with most completed discipline fields across China, it offers programmes in 12 major fields, including philosophy, economics, law, pedagogy, literature, history, science, engineering, agronomy, medicine, management and art.

Currently, there are approximately 42,000 full-time students, including over 6400 full-time doctoral candidates and postgraduates and more than 28,000 undergraduate students. Currently there are 3347 faculty members.

With an open mind, HBU has established cooperative ties with over 100 high-level universities across the world. It has set up the HBU-UClan School of Media, Communication and Creative Industries, a Chinese-foreign cooperative college approved by the Ministry of Education. It has also founded the Chinese Learning Centers in Russia and Malaysia, and the Confucius Institutes in Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Xavier University of Louisiana, University of Nouakchott in Mauritania and Universiti Malaysia Pahang. Having cultivated more than 3,000 doctors, masters, bachelors and short-term overseas students from over 90 countries and regions, HBU is a pilot university designated by Training and Research Center for Overseas Study of Ministry of Education, and the first one in Hebei Province qualified to receive students awarded with Chinese government scholarships and the first indexed in the Chinese Teaching Bases of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council.

HBU has gone through the vicissitudes of more than 90 years since its establishment. In the course of its development, scholars and students from generation to generation have been striving with great efforts to make contributions for the country, thus forming the motto of “Seeking Truth from Facts, Studying Profoundly and Behaving Honestly” and the school spirit of “Erudition, Pursuit for truth, Endurance and Innovation”. Taking this as its aspiration and values, HBU has educated nearly 400 thousand excellent students with alumni spreading around the world, and created a multitude of original and cutting-edge achievements in scientific and technological filed, which brought great economic and social benefits. Currently, HBU is thriving with strong momentum, supported by Hebei Provincial Committee, the People’s Government of Hebei Province and national ministries including Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance. With the opportunity of being co-constructed by Hebei Province and Ministry of Education, all teachers and students are working together to overcome difficulties and striding ahead to build a top-level university.