The School of Marxism (School of Social Sciences) at Shenzhen University is a second-level teaching and research institution directly under the university. It is one of the first key Marxist schools in Guangdong Province and serves as the lead institution for the Guangdong Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for Ideological and Political Theory Courses. Established in 1983 as the Department of Social Sciences, it was reorganized in April 1987 into the Department of Public Administration. In July 1993, the university integrated Marxist-Leninist and moral education resources to form the Department of Social Sciences. In March 1997, the Institute of Social Sciences was established as part of the university's structural reforms, and in January 2002, it was renamed the Department of Social Science Teaching and Research. In 2011, it was renamed the School of Social Sciences, and in April 2016, the School of Marxism (School of Social Sciences) was officially founded.

The school currently has 78 faculty members, including 65 full-time teachers of ideological and political theory (13 professors, 17 associate professors, and 61 Ph.D. holders). Over the years, the school has seen one faculty member nominated as a figure of influence in the first national list of ideological and political theory teachers by the Ministry of Education, one teacher selected for the Ministry’s “Outstanding Young and Middle-Aged Ideological and Political Theory Teachers” award, one recipient of the Second Prize in the 18th Fok Ying Tung Foundation Higher Education Teaching Award, one recognized as Guangdong Special Support Talent, two awarded Outstanding Teachers of Southern Guangdong, one named Guangdong Teaching Master, one named Guangdong Teaching Master for Ideological and Political Theory, two members of the Guangdong Ideological and Political Theory Course Teaching Steering Committee, four selected for the Guangdong “Thousand, Hundred, Ten” Talent Project, and five listed as Shenzhen High-Level Talents.

The school is responsible for teaching the ideological and political theory courses at Shenzhen University. For undergraduates, these courses include "Introduction to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era," "Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics," "Ideological and Moral Cultivation and the Rule of Law," "Basic Principles of Marxism," "Outline of Modern Chinese History," and "Current Situation and Policy." Graduate courses include "Theory and Practice of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era," "Marxism and Social Science Methodology," "Introduction to Dialectics of Nature," and "Chinese Marxism and Contemporary Times."

The school boasts one national-level first-class undergraduate course: "Ideological and Moral Cultivation and the Rule of Law," and two high-quality ideological and political courses recognized in Guangdong Province: "Ideological and Moral Cultivation and the Rule of Law" and "Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics." It also offers one Guangdong Province Premium Resource Sharing Course: "Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics." The school has developed two MOOC courses: "Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" and "Ideological and Moral Cultivation and the Rule of Law."

In 2003, the School of Marxism was authorized to offer a master's degree in Marxist Theory and Ideological and Political Education and enrolled its first cohort of graduate students in 2004. In 2006, the school was further authorized to offer master’s degrees in Basic Principles of Marxism, Marxism in China, Ideological and Political Education, and Scientific Socialism and the International Communist Movement. In 2018, it was approved to offer a first-level discipline master's degree in Marxist Theory (0305). The school currently offers six second-level research directions: Basic Principles of Marxism, History of Marxist Development, Marxism in China, Research on Foreign Marxism, Ideological and Political Education, and Research on Major Issues in Modern Chinese History. It also hosts the nation's first Experimental Teaching Center for Ideological and Political Theory Courses using simulated scenarios.

In the past five years, the school has been awarded four major national projects under the National Philosophy and Social Sciences program, 41 National Social Science Fund projects, and 78 provincial and ministerial-level projects. Faculty have published 47 monographs through renowned publishers such as the Chinese Social Sciences Press, and over 300 academic papers in journals including Chinese Social Sciences, People's Daily, Guangming Daily, and Studies on Marxism. Many of these articles have been fully reprinted in Xinhua Digest, Chinese Social Sciences Digest, the RUC Reprints, and on platforms like Guangming Online, People’s Daily Online, and the National Social Science Planning Office website. Policy reports written by faculty have been adopted or received positive feedback from various levels of government over 130 times, including 7 instances of positive feedback from the nation's highest leaders.

The school comprises 8 teaching departments:

1. Teaching and Research Office for Introduction to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era

2. Teaching and Research Office for Basic Principles of Marxism

3. Teaching and Research Office for Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

4. Teaching and Research Office for Ideological and Moral Cultivation and the Rule of Law

5. Teaching and Research Office for Outline of Modern Chinese History

6. Teaching and Research Office for History of Reform and Opening Up

7. Teaching and Research Office for Graduate Ideological and Political Theory

8. Teaching and Research Office for Current Situation and Policy

The school also hosts 7 academic research institutes:

1. Research Base for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in Guangdong (Shenzhen University Research Base)

2. Shenzhen University Institute for Migration Culture (one of the 10 local cultural research bases recognized by the Guangdong Provincial Publicity Department)

3. Shenzhen University Institute for Moral Culture (a key research base for the humanities and social sciences in Shenzhen)

4. Shenzhen International Development Strategy Research Center (a key research base for the humanities and social sciences in Shenzhen)

5. Institute for Contemporary Chinese Thought and Culture

6. Shenzhen University Research Center for the History of Reform and Opening Up

7. Shenzhen University Center for Chinese Systems Philosophy.