The former body of Shanghai Vocational College of Science and Technology (SVCST) can be traced back to No.2 Shanghai Secondary School of Science and Technology established in 1959.In 1981, the school was upgraded to the 3-year higher vocational school whose name was changed into Shanghai Specialized College of Science and Technology. Later in 1994, the school was merged into Shanghai University. In April, 2001, approved by the Shanghai Municipal Government and registered by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, the school was renamed as Shanghai Vocational College of Science and Technology (SVCST) which becomes an independent full-time vocational institution of higher learning. 

   The college was ranked as one of the exemplary vocational college by Shanghai Municipal Commission of Education in 2003. From 2004 to 2005, 2006 to 2007 the college was successively appraised as Shanghai Model Unit. The college was evalsuated and assessed on the nationwide talent training level of vocational higher education institution by experts from the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China in 2007.  

   With the emphasis on actively meeting the needs of social development, reforming its pattern of personnel training and focusing on the orientation of employment, SVCST optimizes teaching facilities, deepens teaching reform, reinforces connotation construction and improves the quality of talents training. The college currently consists of 5 departments, namely, Communication and Electronic Engineering Department, Computer Science Department, Automobiles Engineering Department, Economic Management Department and Department of Humanities and Social Science; 20 programs—Communications Technology, Applied Electronic Technology, Security Defense Technology, Automobiles Application Technology, Numerical Control Technology, Integrated Mechanotronics Technology, Business Management, Logistics Management, Hotel Management, Humanities Resources Management, Applied English, Applied Japanese, Social Work and so on. At present, there are 4000-odd full-time students on campus. Besides, the college boasts of communications and electronic engineering technology experimental and practical training base, automobiles engineering experimental and practical training centre, economic and management experimental and practical training center, computer experimental and practical training centre, humanities and social science experimental and practical training centre , thus meeting the needs of vocational training and technical ability training.  

    The college aims at not only training the technical talents who would be well-rounded in moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic development and suit the modern production, construction, management, and service needs, but persisting in the target of economic and social development. To cultivate each student into a qualified talent, the college puts forward a teaching guideline---imparting profession-oriented essentials, centering on students’ moral integrity, strengthening application of theory into practice, giving top priority to mastery of skills . The philosophy of quality-oriented education is fully merged into vocational talent training so as to strengthen the students’ sustainable ability. 

    The college has made tremendous efforts to enhance close cooperation with enterprises such as Shanghai International Automobiles City, Shanghai Automobiles Industry Corporation, Shanghai Bao Steel Company, Shanghai Alcatel-Lucent Company, Shanghai Volkswagen Automobiles Company, Shanghai Hua Hong Company, Shanghai J.Y.(Group) Corporation, Shanghai Ricohsoft Company, Shanghai Simens mobiles Company, Shanghai Metro Company, Shanghai Zhenghua Port Machinery Company, Shanghai Baosight Software Co., Ltd.,etc. by setting up stable field-practice bases. Moreover, the college has designed the qualification-related courses in all programs so that the students can get some related professional qualifying certifications when they finish their college education, which will greatly improve their entrepreneurial capabilities and employability.