The School of International Education of Northwest University, formerly known as the School of International Cultural Exchange, was established in 1992. It is a secondary unit in NWU that undertakes the admissions, teaching and training, daily management, logistics services for international students, as well as discipline construction and scientific research of Chinese as a second language. In 2014, the School of Central Asia was established to co-operate with the School of International Cultural Exchange. In 2017, the project of “To Study at NWU” was implemented, focusing on improving the cultivation quality of international students and promoting characteristic programs and educational brands. In November 2018, the NWU implemented the reform of large department system, merged the former Office of International Affairs with the School of International Cultural Exchange, and established the Office of International Cooperation (School of International Education).

The Office of International Cooperation (School of International Education) consists of General Affairs, International Programs, Outbound Faculty and Students Services, Chinese-Foreign Joint Educational Programs, International Students Admissions, International Students Affairs, Department of Chinese and Chinese Culture Courses, Department of Academic Courses, International Students Logistics Center and Overseas Study Service Center. There are 14 full-time faculty that teach Chinese as a second language, 20 administrative staff and 24 department employed logistics service personnel.

The School of International Education of Northwest University focuses on cultivating international students with global vision, independent thinking ability, innovative capability, cross-cultural communication skills, adequate academic and professional knowledge and positive attitudes of understanding China,being friendly towards China and loving China. The SIE has cultivated more than 12,000 international students from over 60 countries. At present, the overall numbers and degree-seeking international students at NWU are increasing year by year. In 2019, a total of 1449 international students came to NWU to study in more than 30 programs from BA, MA to PhD levels offered by 22 schools (departments). International students that pursuing degrees account for more than 75% of its total number at NWU. The SIE actively assists and supports many schools/departments of the university to set up programs using English as its learning medium. At present, NWU can offer English taught programs at undergraduate level in international economics and trade, master level in international law and various doctoral programs.

In recent years, relying on the profound accumulation and high-level teaching and scientific research team of Northwest University in disciplines related to Chinese traditional culture, and combined with the unique regional advantages of the ancient yet modern Xi'an city in history and culture, the SIE has cooperated with world-famous sinologists, domestic and international academic scholars and many academic institutions to strengthen Chinese teaching and cultural communication research. The experimental teaching center for teaching Chinese as a second language and Chinese culture experience has been established, the “Smart Classroom” and cloud platform have been introduced into teaching, efforts have been made to build a three-dimensional international communication platform for Chinese traditional culture, in order to cultivate Chinese cultural exchange carriers and promote mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations.

Focusing on excellent Chinese traditional culture, a series of high-quality elective courses named as “characteristic cultural experience series” are offered at the SIE for international students to further learn and understand Chinese medicine, art of tea, Chinese operas, Taiji and other traditional cultures. SIE creates a “special experience camp of Han and Tang culture” to enable international students to understand the characteristics of Chinese history and culture by visiting Han and Tang cultural sites and experiencing traditional folk activities. International Cultural Festivals were regularly held both on and off-campus, “perception of China: a new journey to the west” and “Qin-Merchants on the Silk Road” and other branded cultural activities were organized in order to cultivate a multicultural atmosphere in universities and promote cultural exchanges between Chinese and international students.

The SIE strives to hold international forums, academic conferences and Chinese culture research projects, carry out cultural exchanges between China and oversea countries around Chinese traditional culture, and promote the international dissemination of Chinese culture. In 2017, the international forum of “Carriers of Culture, Then and Now: --Xuanzang and Marco polo on One Belt One Road” was held, the dialogue between Chinese and foreign cultural professors was held in 2018, and the international academic seminar of “Chinese Humanistic Spirit” was held in 2019, focusing on the research and ideological exchange of cultural communication mode. The Donggan teachers training seminars, the long-distance Chinese culture communication programs, the French Local Chinese Teachers Seminars supported by Center for Language Education and Cooperation and Advanced Chinese Cultural Training Programs for “One Belt One Road” countries supported by the Office of International Affairs of Ministry of Education were held by the SIE, attracting overseas Chinese teachers and young Sinologists to visit and exchange ideas at NWU, and actively cultivate the future backbone talents for Chinese culture overseas communication.

The SIE tries to go abroad and follow the “One Belt, One Road" initiative to carry out various forms of cultural transmission, including but not excluding the following attempts: to cooperate with enterprises to set up the branch of School of Central Asia of Northwest University in Kyrgyzstan and implement the “Thousand Talents Training Plan for the Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt"; to collaborate with foreign educational institutions and send a team of teachers to Thailand to set up language and culture short camp; to send a performance team of international students to Russia to promote Shaanxi characteristic culture.

The SIE builds bridges to promote the cultural exchange between Chinese and foreign civil societies. Over the years, Chinese host family learning programs for college and middle school students from the United States and Italy were organized, in order to promote two-way language learning and cultural exchanges between overseas teenagers and ordinary Chinese families. International students were sent to Chinese primary and middle schools in poor and rural areas and assist with their English teaching projects，which will help the international students fully understand the contemporary Chinese society, help the rural teenagers learn foreign languages and understand the world, and promote the “People-to-People Bond” in all the countries along the Silk Road.

Over the years, the SIE has nurtured numerous international students who understand, being friendly and love China, and they have become cultural carriers between China and foreign countries, including officials of the embassies and consulates of the United States and Thailand in China, Korean translators, etc. In recent years, students from “One Belt, One Road” countries have been growing up as academic talents, entrepreneurial figures and artistic stars, such as Uzbekistan students SUKHROB KHAMDAMOV (Suhe) and YULDUZ IMINDJANOVA (Xingxing), Russian students MAKUSHEVA YELENA(Li You), Turkish student DEMIRKALE AHMET EKREM (Bai Zhenguo) and so on. The students have been interviewed by various media such as CCTV.

In 2009, the SIE was awarded with the title of “Model School for Education of International Students in China” by the Ministry of Education; In 2017, the SIE successfully passed the “Quality Review for Studying in China" of the Ministry of Education. In 2018, the SIE was approved to set up a HSK test center by the Center of Language Education and Cooperation (Former Confucius Institute Headquarter).

In 2017, with the approval of the State Council, Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education initiated the establishment of the Han Tang Institute International, led by Northwest University and participated by all colleges and universities in Shaanxi province. In the future, the School of International Education and the Han Tang Institute International will continue to adhere to the principle of “Openness, Exchange, Inheritance and Mutual Learning”, aim to cultivate excellent Chinese cultural exchange carriers, and rely on high-quality higher education resources in Shaanxi Province to promote Chinese traditional culture to the world and introduce excellent cultures to Shaanxi from all over the world. The Hantang Institute International will play a unique role in the free trade zone, share cultural resources, broaden channels of communication, and create a new “cultural exchange” platform along the “One Belt One Road” countries.