The university is co-sponsored by the Hubei Provincial People's Government, the Ministry of Education, SASTIND, and six state-owned corporations.

The history of WUST dates back to the Hubei Technical Institute (湖北工艺学堂; 湖北工藝學堂; Húběi Gōngyì Xuétáng), which was founded in 1898 by Zhang Zhidong in the late Qing Dynasty.

In 1958, it was renamed as Wuhan Iron and Steel University (武汉钢铁学院; 武漢鋼鐵學院; Wǔhàn Gāngtiě Xuéyuàn) and began to offer four-year degree programs.

From 1990 to 1994, the China-Australia Iron and Steel Industry Training Centre (中澳钢铁工业培训中心; 中澳鋼鐵工業培訓中心; Zhōng ào gāngtiě gōngyè péixùn zhōngxīn) was established at the Wuhan Iron and Steel University, as part of a joint venture between the governments of Australia and China.

Full-time students: 24,764 WUST Women's basketball team has won several national championships in CUBA and won the "President Cup" in the fifth and sixth China University Students Sports meetings successively.