In 1902, Li Duanfen, the initiator of Peking University, founded Guiyang Public Normal School, later renamed Guiyang Normal School. In 1978, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, Guiyang Normal College was established. In 1984, the People's Government of Guiyang established Jinzhu University. In 2004, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, Guiyang Normal College and Jinzhu University merged to form Guiyang University, implementing a "provincial and municipal co-administration, mainly by Guiyang" education system. In 2009, Guiyang Normal School was merged into Guiyang University, forming a teaching-oriented and applied-oriented local university with the coordinated development of multiple disciplines. In 2010, Guiyang University passed the qualified evaluation of undergraduate teaching by the Ministry of Education, and in 2017, GYU passed the audit evaluation by the Ministry of Education. In 2018, it was approved as a Master's degree-granting university.

GYU is located in Guizhou Shuanglong Airport Economic Zone, with a planned campus area of 1350 acres and a planned building area of 564500 square meters.

Guiyang University has 17 professional schools and 1 school of continuing education, covering 10 disciplines such as science, engineering, economics, management, education, etc. There are 2 provincial regional first-class discipline groups, 2 provincial regional first-class disciplines, 1 provincial characteristic key discipline, and 8 provincial key disciplines. Meanwhile we have 1 national first-class undergraduate major construction program, 12 provincial first-class undergraduate major construction programs, 1 national specialty, 2 provincial specialty majors, and 5 provincial specialty majors of the Excellence in Talent Education and Training Program construction project. GYU has 52 majors, recruiting undergraduates from 13 provinces, Besides GYU offers 2 first-level master’s degree programs, 5 professional master's degree programs, and more than 20 training courses for postgraduates nationwide. Guiyang University has built 5 national science and technology service platforms, 1 research center of different countries and regions, 29 provincial science research or science and technology service platforms, and 12 provincial science and technology innovation talents and teams. There are 4 State Council Special Allowance Experts(including retired faculty members), 2 excellent talents in the new century from the Ministry of Education, 1 young talent in ideology and culture from the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, 8 provincial experts (including retired faculty members), 2 high-level innovative talents in Guizhou Province at the "100" level, and 7 excellent young scientific and technological innovators in Guizhou Province. There are 2 provincial teaching masters, 7 "golden masters", and 13 teaching masters of ideological courses.

We have more than 70 provincial experts, scholars, and talents known as teaching and research personnel. GYU teachers have won 48 projects from the National Social Science Foundation and the National Art Foundation, 51 projects from the National Natural Science Foundation, 51 provincial and ministerial level scientific research achievement awards, and 108 prefecture level scientific research achievement awards. They have built 108 internship and training bases both on and off campus. GYU has a total value of 202 million yuan in teaching and research equipment. The library has a collection of more than 1.03 million Chinese and foreign language paper books. There are over 2 million types of e-books and 60 database resources. Currently, GYU has over 970 faculty members, including 717 full-time teachers, over 200 with doctoral degrees, and over 440 professors and associate professors. There are nearly 12,000 full-time undergraduate students and over 300 master's students.

GYU has reached educational exchange and cooperation agreements with more than 70 overseas universities, including the University of Quebec in Canada, Mahidol University and Kalasin University in Thailand. We have established an international talent training system for exchange students, language students, and academic students. These years we have recruited international students from more than 20 countries from Asia, America, Africa, and Europe.