education base for cultural education of college students, 3 national key disciplines, 39 provincial key disciplines, one national engineering and technology center, 11 ministerial or provincial key labs and engineering and technology research centers. Rankings In 2017, Times Higher Education ranked the university within the 801-1000 band globally. Staff and students The university has a faculty and staff of over 2,300, of which 1,100 are full-time faculty, and nearly 600 are professors and associate professors. The faculty is also distinguished by 2 academicians and 7 part-time academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 4 honored professors under the auspices of the "Cheung Kong Scholars Program". The university's student population amounts to about 18,000 including 2,000 doctoral and graduate students, and 150 international students. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the university has educated more than 100,000 graduates of different disciplines for the nation. The university was praised as "the Mother of Chinese Petroleum Engineering Talents" and "the Cradle of Economists". References External links Northwest University website Universities and colleges in Xi'an Project 211 1902 establishments in China Educational institutions established in 1902