In 1958, the main campus of Shandong University was moved to the province’s capital, Jinan, and in March 1959, with the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) approval, Shandong College of Oceanography was established, comprising the remaining departments and institutions in Qingdao. After 30 years of being a part of Shandong University, Shandong College of Oceanography was now an independent institution. It was name one of China’s 23 key universities under the direct administration of the MoE in March 1960, and it became one of the 13 national key comprehensive universities in the October of that year.