Shinshu University is a national university with eight faculties (Arts, Education, Economics and Law, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture, and Textile Science and Technology) and five graduate schools. The University offers courses and conducts research across a broad range of academic disciplines on its five campuses spread across Nagano.

The University takes full advantage of its multidisciplinary character by encouraging collaboration between its various academic departments, resulting in internationally recognized research and innovative approaches to teaching.