The computer discipline at Southeast University originated from the major of "Computing Devices and Techniques" established in 1960. It independently developed China's first digital integrator, filling a domestic gap and achieving groundbreaking results successfully applied in national defense modernization and industrial automation. Undergraduate enrollment began in 1960, master's enrollment in 1979, and doctoral enrollment in 1990. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering was founded in 1981, and the School of Computer Science and Engineering was established in 2006. In 2001, the College of Software Engineering was founded as one of the first 35 "National Model Software Schools" in China. In 2018, the School of Artificial Intelligence was established, making it one of the first 35 universities authorized to offer the Artificial Intelligence major.

The School currently offers doctoral programs in three first-level disciplines—Computer Science and Technology, Software Engineering, and Intelligent Science and Technology—as well as a professional doctoral degree in Electronic Information. It also hosts two postdoctoral research stations in Computer Science and Technology and Software Engineering. Among these, the second-level discipline "Computer Application Technology" was twice selected as a National Key Discipline (2002, 2007) and was granted a Changjiang Distinguished Professorship by the Ministry of Education (1999). The first-level discipline "Computer Science and Technology" was twice included in the national "Double First-Class" initiative (2017, 2022). "Software Engineering" was successively designated as a Key Discipline of Jiangsu Province (2012) and a Superior Discipline of Jiangsu Province (2018). In March 2024, the ESI discipline ranking of "Computer Science" entered the global top 0.01% for the first time. The School currently has over 150 faculty and staff members, forming a well-structured, dynamic, and primarily young-to-middle-aged high-quality teaching team. This team includes 6 national high-level talents, 8 national high-level young talents, 8 talents supported by the Ministry of Education's Trans-Century and New Century Talent Programs, 45 high-level talents of Jiangsu Province, 1 innovation team under the Ministry of Education's "Changjiang Scholars and Innovation Team Development Plan", and 1 science and technology innovation team under Jiangsu's "Qinglan Project".

The School consistently aligns with national and societal development needs, upholds the principle of fostering virtue and nurturing talents, and cultivates leading professionals with a sense of patriotism, innovation, and global vision. The School hosts the "National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Computer Science." The "Computer Science and Technology" major was among the first batch of Jiangsu Provincial Brand Majors (2013) and has been selected as a National First-Class Undergraduate Major Construction Site (2019) and a Ministry of Education Base for Cultivating Top-Notch Students in Computer Science (2021). The "Software Engineering" major was selected as a National First-Class Undergraduate Major Construction Site (2020) and a Jiangsu Provincial Excellence Engineer Education and Training 2.0 Program construction site (2022). The "Artificial Intelligence" major was selected as a National First-Class Undergraduate Major Construction Site (2021) and a Jiangsu Provincial Brand Major (2021). The School has received numerous teaching awards, including 1 First Prize of National Teaching Achievement, 1 Second Prize of National Teaching Achievement, 2 First Prizes of Jiangsu Provincial Teaching Achievement, 1 Second Prize of Teaching Achievement from the Chinese Society of Academic Degrees and Graduate Education, 1 First Prize for Computer Practice Teaching in Chinese Higher Education Institutions, and has been recognized with 2 National First-Class Courses and 1 Jiangsu Provincial Industry-Education Integration First-Class Course.

The School hosts several key research laboratories, including the Key Laboratory of Computer Network and Information Integration (Ministry of Education), the Key Laboratory of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Technology and its Interdisciplinary Applications (Ministry of Education), the Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Network and Information Security, the Jiangsu Provincial International Joint Laboratory for Medical Information Processing, and the Sino-French Biomedical Information Research Center. Over the past five years, the School has undertaken more than 600 national and provincial-level research projects, including National Key R&D Program projects, National Science and Technology Major Projects, key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and NSFC Distinguished/Excellent Young Scholar projects. Faculty have published over 900 academic papers, including more than 100 high-impact papers in CCF A journals and conferences. They have received more than 10 national and provincial-level research awards, including a Second Prize of the State Natural Science Award, a Second Prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award, and a First Prize of Natural Science Award from the Ministry of Education. The School has also been granted over 200 national invention patents and led the formulation of one national standard.

The School is committed to internationalization, actively leveraging international cooperation projects and platforms to achieve significant breakthroughs in high-level international exchanges and collaboration with renowned universities and research institutions. The School has long been deeply involved in the AMS large-scale international collaboration led by Nobel Laureate Professor Samuel C.C. Ting. It also actively participates in the Southeast University-Monash University Joint Graduate School and the Southeast University-Rennes Graduate School joint master's programs. The School hosts the EFREI full-class exchange program to China and has signed "3+2" joint training agreements with the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Irvine; the University of California, Los Angeles; and Waseda University. Each year, the School invites scholars from internationally renowned universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and other countries to give lectures. It also sends students to participate in short-term research or exchange programs at prestigious overseas institutions such as Imperial College London, Osaka University, and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, fostering an international learning environment and enhancing students’ global vision and competitiveness.