The predecessor of the School of Public Finance and Taxation is the Department of Public Finance which was set up at the Beijing Institute of Finance and Trade in 1978. The department was retained when the former Beijing Institute of Finance & Trade and the Beijing College of Economics merged in June 1995. In October 2006, the department was transformed into the School of Public Finance and Taxation with Zhai Hongxiang, former executive deputy mayor of Beijing municipality, as honorable dean.

The school has formed a multi-layered education system covering undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate education. Currently, the School has three teaching departments, namely, Department of Public Finance, Department of Taxation and Department of Asset Appraisal. It offers three undergraduate programs—Public Finance, Taxation (Certified Tax Agents included) and Asset Appraisal (Certified Public Valuer). Besides, it has one academic master’s degree program on public finance, two professional master’s degree programs on taxation and asset appraisal respectively as well as one doctorate program on public finance. At present, there are nearly 700 undergraduates, over 80 postgraduates and 17 doctorate students studying at the school for their degrees.

The School’s vibrant teaching staff is well balanced in age structure and recognized in academia and the society in general. Of the School’s 33 staff members, 27 are full-time teachers with 19 professors or associate professors, accounting for 70.4 %, and 21 holding or are studying for doctorate degrees, 77.8% of the total.

Years of practice has shaped the School’s market-oriented and interdisciplinary education model that emphasizes theory-practice link and practicum in real work scenarios. To give its students a competitive edge in the market, the School is dedicated to the education of high-caliber professionals who have both solid knowledge foundation and practical skill sets. Because of promising admission and employment, the School is recognized as an incubator for public finance and taxation professionals by the general public. And it has been playing an exemplary role within CUEB with a high admission threshold and employment rate, which has been above 98%.