Shantou University, a university under the provincial Project 211 program in Shantou, Guangdong, was founded in 1981 with the approval of the State Council.

Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census and an administrative area of 2,248.39 square kilometres (868.11 sq mi). However, its built-up area is much bigger with 12,543,024 inhabitants including Rongcheng and Jiedong districts, Jiexi county and Puning city in Jieyang plus all of Chaozhou city largely conurbated. This is de facto the 5th built-up area in mainland China between Hangzhou-Shaoxing, Xian-Xianyang and Tianjin.