In September 1958, Guizhou Institute of Finance and Economics was established on the basis of Guizhou Provincial School of Finance and Economics Cadres. Its location is on the north side of Riverside Park in Guiyang City.
In 1961, the school for financial and economic cadres was reopened. During the Cultural Revolution, the College of Finance and Economics was abolished.
In 1978, Guizhou Institute of Finance and Economics was rebuilt.
In 1992, Guizhou Institute of Finance and Economics and Guizhou Institute of Planning and Management Cadres were merged into a new Guizhou Institute of Finance and Economics.
In November 2011, the Ministry of Education decided to support Guizhou Institute of Finance and Economics by the counterpart of the Central University of Finance and Economics.
In March 2012, the Ministry of Education issued a document agreeing that Guizhou Institute of Finance and Economics should be renamed Guizhou University of Finance and Economics.
In July 2014, the Ministry of Education awarded the National Employment Experience College for Graduates.
In June 2017, it was selected as the second batch of national demonstration universities to deepen innovation and entrepreneurship education reform.
On July 7, 2017, the West Michigan College of Guizhou University of Finance and Economics was officially established, which achieved a zero breakthrough in the Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run institutions of ordinary undergraduate colleges and universities in Guizhou Province.