SHUPL is composed of the following academic departments: School of Law, School of Economic Law(Silk Road Lawyering Institute), School of International Law(School of International Arbitration), School of Criminal Justice(School of Discipline Inspection and Supervision), School of Policing Studies, School of Artificial Intelligence Law, School of Economics and Management, School of Government, School of Languages and Cultures(School of International Communication and Exchange), Shanghai Documentary Academy, School of Marxism, School of Higher Vocational Education, as well as teaching units for general education modules such as Department of Physical Education.

The university regards academic excellence as the engine of its development. SHUPL is an authorized unit and has the doctoral program of law.SHUPL has five first-level master’s programs,including law, Marxist theory, journalism and communication, public administration, and national security.SHUPL has nine professional master’s programs,including law, international business, social work, journalism and communication, auditing, translation, digital economy, international affairs, and international Chinese education. The discipline of law is the first-class and plateu discipline in Shanghai. SHUPL aims to foster newly-emerging disciplines such as national security, artificial intelligence law, discipline inspection and featured discipline clusters,such as the rule of law guarantee of urban governance, the Belt and Road justice, the Belt and Road security and anti-terrorism research. In 2021 and 2022, SHUPL was successively approved by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice the Master of Law（international lawyer with global vision）training project (one of the 15 universities in China) and the Master of Law (International Arbitration) training project (one of the 20 universities in China).SHUPL cultivates Ph.D.students in partnership with Zhejiang University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics,Kyrgyzstan State University of Nationalities and Uzbekistan State Law University, and post-doctoral researchers with East China University of Political Science and Law.According to the “2023 ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities) Ranking of the Best Disciplines in China”, SHUPL’s discipline of Law ranks the 19th in China.According to the 2020 ARWU Ranking, SHUPL ranks fourth in the law universities in China.According to the 2020 Ranking of Freshmen Quality of Chinese Universities, SHUPL ranks 156 out of the 1200 shortlisted universities.

We offer over 40 bachelor’s degree programs in legal studies, penology, intellectual property, economics, business administration, financial management, international economy and trade, auditing, economy and finance, taxation, sociology, social work, labor and social security, applied psychology, political science and administration, international politics, administrative management, Chinese language and literature, journalism, broadcasting and television, broadcasting and TV directing and editing, English language, Russian language, ideological and political education, international Chinese education, etc.

SHUPL has more than 40 undergraduate majors, among which law, penology and intellectual property are national first-class undergraduate majors,while international economics and trade, social work, journalism, economics, economics and finance, auditing, political science and administration, international politics, and radio and television editing and directing are provincial first-class majors. Penology and social work are national-level featured majors; law and business administration are pilot majors for comprehensive reform of undergraduate programs in Shanghai. Financial management and social work are application-oriented pilot majors in Shanghai. The major of artificial intelligence law is the first undergraduate program to enroll students in China. The undergraduate majors of people's mediation, community correction and television documentary are the first of their kind in Chinese universities and have been highly recognized.Penology and community correction rank first and are rated A+in the 2023 ARWU Ranking. SHUPL has been approved for the Shanghai First Class Undergraduate Education and First Class Graduate Education Plan, as well as the Shanghai Key Modern Industry College Project (Shanghai Documentary Academy). SHUPL has been approved as the training base for outstanding legal talents, outstanding international legal talents with global vision and outstanding journalism talents.SHUPL is also a member unit of China Legal Alliance, an association of universities across China specialized in political science and law.SHUPL starts to recruit students from Hongkong, Macau and Taiwan in 2014.