Subsequent university goals have included the need to cultivate professional support for ethnic groups to ensure political, economic and cultural development and to foster international outreach.
[citation needed] Since its establishment, the university has received over 20,000 students and scholars from over 80 countries, visiting to study or to conduct academic exchanges and scientific research.
Instruction includes five key courses on the provincial level: An Outline of Ethnology, The Socialist Construction of China, Theories & Policies Concerning Ethnic Groups, and Organic Chemistry Research institutions resident at the university: YNU has a staff of more than 870, of which 428 are teachers and more than 60 are professional researchers, with 36 being full professors and 215 associate professors.
The honorary professors of the institute include Ji Xianlin and Zhou Yiliang, council members of the National Board of Education, Dai Ruwei, Ding Xiaqi and Yan Luguang, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Liu Yaohan and Xu Qingzhang, nationally recognized educators of China.
The museum inventory includes valuable ethnic relics (30,000 pieces) enabling local and foreign research.