北京城市学院创建于1984年，前身为海淀走读大学，是新中国第一所实行公有民办体制的高等院校。2003年升格为本科院校并更名为北京城市学院，2011年获批开展研究生教育，2015年在欧洲圣马力诺建成中医药特色孔子学院。学校以"适合教育、全人教育、有效教育、实用教育"为育人理念，形成了涵盖研究生、本科、高职专科的多层次办学体系，被誉为中国高等教育改革的"一面旗帜"。

Founded in 1984 as Haidian University, Beijing City University (BCU) is the first higher education institution in New China to adopt a public-run private system. It was upgraded to an undergraduate university in 2003 and renamed Beijing City University. In 2011, it was approved to offer postgraduate education, and in 2015, it established a Chinese Medicine-themed Confucius Institute in San Marino, Europe. With the educational philosophy of "suitable education, holistic education, effective education, and practical education", BCU has formed a multi-level educational system covering postgraduate, undergraduate, and vocational college education, known as a "flagship of China's higher education reform".

学校现有海淀、顺义、航天城、中关村四个校区，总占地面积131.49万平方米，建筑面积48.50万平方米。开设112个本专科专业，涵盖理工、文法、财经、艺术、外语、管理、医药等学科门类，拥有5个北京市重点学科和12个市级一流本科专业建设点。全日制在校生约28000人，教职工2000余人，其中"双师型"教师占专任教师总数的38.51%，高级职称教师占比近46%。

The university has four campuses in Haidian, Shunyi, Aerospace City, and Zhongguancun, covering a total area of 1.3149 million square meters with a building area of 485,000 square meters. It offers 112 undergraduate and specialized programs spanning science, engineering, liberal arts, law, finance, art, foreign languages, management, medicine, and other disciplines. BCU boasts 5 Beijing Municipal Key Disciplines and 12 Municipal First-class Undergraduate Program Construction Sites. It has approximately 28,000 full-time students and over 2,000 faculty members, with "double-qualified" teachers accounting for 38.51% of full-time teachers and nearly 46% holding senior professional titles.

学校注重国际化办学与产学研融合，先后与50多所境外高校建立合作关系，2013年起与英国华威大学联合举办项目管理硕士教育项目。毕业生初次就业率连续十多年保持在98%以上，形成"留得住、用得上、干得好"的就业品牌。近年来，学校在2024年软科中国民办高校排名中位列第17位，劳动教育研究院、社会建设研究院等科研平台的建设彰显了服务城市发展的办学特色。

BCU emphasizes international education and industry-university-research integration, having established partnerships with over 50 overseas universities. Since 2013, it has jointly offered a Master's program in Project Management with the University of Warwick (UK). The initial employment rate of graduates has remained above 98% for over a decade, forming an employment brand characterized by "being retainable, usable, and competent". In recent years, BCU ranked 17th in the 2024 Soft Science China Private University Rankings. The establishment of research platforms such as the Institute of Labor Education and the Institute of Social Construction demonstrates its educational characteristics of serving urban development.