National Chengchi University

The school was established in 1927 in Nanjing, which was the capital city of China, as the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China) Central School of Party Affairs (中央黨務學校) to train Party cadre. In 1929, it was renamed the Central Political Institute (中央政治學校), after the Kuomintang reunified much of China in the Northern Expedition. The school was built on the basis of National Central University, which was the highest academic institution of the Republic of China. In 1946, it merged with the Central Youth Cadre School (中央青年幹部学校), which had been founded in 1943 by the Three Principles of the People Youth Corps in the wartime capital of Chongqing. The merged school was named the National Political University (國立政治大學, aka the National Central Political University [國立中央政治大學]) and was based again in Nanjing. When the Nationalist government lost control of mainland China and relocated to Taiwan in 1949, the university's activities were suspended.

The university was reopened in 1954 as National Chengchi University in the Muzha District of Taipei by the Executive Yuan, in order to meet the needs of civil service and the growing demands of higher education in Taiwan. It became a pioneer for the subsequent restoration in Taiwan of other national universities from China, such as Tsing Hua and Chiao Tung universities. Initially, only graduate students were admitted, but later in 1955, the school began to offer places to undergraduate students. In 1960, the university awarded the very first Doctor of Juridical Science degree in the Republic of China. In 1964, the school initiated the first-ever Mandarin-based Chinese Master of Business Administration program in the world.

Traditionally, as a modern institution training for public servants, NCCU is considered one of the leading institutions in Taiwan. Today, the school is one of the top universities in Taiwan, and has been elected as the Aim for the Top University Project sponsored school of the Ministry of Education.

In 2014, the Representative Office of Japan in Taiwan listed NCCU as one of the seven well-known Taiwanese universities.

In December 2019, NCCU established its first overseas office in Bangkok, Thailand.

NCCU has several hubs globally for students and teachers of NCCU to stay in touch and connect with each other. In 2020, the world alumni association has been established to serve about 140,000 alumni globally.