Wuhan University of Science and Technology is a local high-level university jointly built by the People's Government of Hubei Province, the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, and six national large-scale enterprises including Baosteel, Ansteel, Wuhan Iron and Steel, Shougang, China Metallurgical Group, and China Steel. It is also one of the universities selected for the "Middle and Western Region University Foundation Capacity Building Project" by the state. The school's educational history can be traced back to the Craft School founded by Zhang Zhidong, the Governor of Hubei Province, in 1898. It was established as Wuhan Iron and Steel College in 1958 and renamed Wuhan University of Science and Technology in 1999. The school's postgraduate education began in 1978 and it is one of the first units in the country to have master's degree authorization.