TUST is jointly constructed by the central government of China and the local government of Tianjin but mainly administered by the latter.It is a key comprehensive university located in Tianjin, with balanced disciplines offered in industry, science, art, economy, management and law. The university offers a whole range of degree programs of different levels, and has long been authorized to accept international students. TUST develops military officers for the army.

The university has two main campuses: the Hexi Campus in the city proper and the TEDA Campus in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area – the center of Tianjin New Coastal Area and the third pole of economic growth of China. The university covers an area of about one million square meters, including buildings of approximately 570,000 square meters. Its teaching equipment is valued at 173 million RMB Yuan while the library covers approximately 26,000 square meters and stores more than 1.6 million books and 3000 professional journals and magazines. There are more than 17,000 registered students at the university.. 

TUST has a mobile postdoctoral center for light industry technology and engineering and a mobile postdoctoral center of Tianjin municipal food processing engineering. TUST offers eleven doctoral programs, thirty-nine master degree programs, ten professional master degree programs in engineering, four on-the-job master programs for university teachers, a national key discipline, and forty-six undergraduate programs. There is an MOE engineering research center and a key lab both at the state level, six provincial key disciplines, six provincial key labs, research centers and industry technology centers.

The university has 1750 full-time faculty, including two hundred and sixty-nine master's and doctoral candidate supervisors. More than 500 faculty hold senior professional technological titles, including members of disciplinary assessment groups of the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council, candidates for the national talent program for the new century, young and middle-aged experts that provide outstanding contributions at the state level, talented individuals from the Ministry of Education, special professors of Tianjin, honored experts of Tianjin, experts enjoying the special allowances from the State Council and special “Haihe Scholars” professors, etc.

The university has undertaken two hundred and twenty–one key projects at the national or provincial level that are supported by the Eleventh Five-year Plan, projects of the “973” and “863” Programs at the state level, Fok Ying Tung Education Fund project, etc. It has won 69 national awards for its scientific and technological progress and the faculty has published more than 10,000 scholarly papers.

The university regards improving education quality as its mission with respect to the needs of the students. It promotes the abilities of the students and organizes various cultural activities on the campus and field work in the society. In the past, the university has won honors in the National Challenge Cup contest for the creation and business incubation of college students along with English and Mathematics contests for Chinese college students.

The university adheres to the principle of being an open educational institution. It invites experts and scholars from this country and abroad to present lectures, and conduct research on cooperative projects in science and technology. Furthermore, the university has established academic relations with more than forty colleges and research institutions in the USA, Japan, U.K., France, Russia, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Korea. The education programs of international cooperation have been expanded and improved in both size and content. Each year, the university sends excellent undergraduates to study abroad in the international exchange program.