Public Administration has a long history at East China Normal University (ECNU). Professor Wang Dingyuan started the teaching and research of Public Administration in the early 1980s. The Research Center of Public Administration(RCPA) was established in 1990, and the former president of ECNU was the first director of the RCPA. In 2006, the Social Security Research Institute was established and the Department of Human Resources and Social Security was established in 2016.

The School of Public Administration is now composed of the Department of Public Administration, the Department of Human Resources and Social Security, the Institute of Social Security, the Institute of Educational Human Resources Development and Management, and the Research Center of Public Policy. Currently, it administers a post-doctoral project and a Public Administration doctoral program, two academic masters' programs (Public Administration, Social Security), and two undergraduate degree programs (Public Administration, Human Resources Management).

The main research areas and directions are contemporary Chinese public administration, performance management, human resource management in the public sector, population mobility and population policy, Chinese social security theory and policy, and social insurance fund management.