Since the reform and opening-up, ideological education in universities has gone through five stages: recovery and reconstruction, exploration and development, adjustment and reform, deepening and innovation, maturity and perfection. The five stages are always closely related to the theme of the times, with the mission of cultivating socialist builders and successors with all-round development of morality, intelligence, fitness, beauty and labor, and constantly pursuing scientific ideological education. The educational objectives, contents, teaching methods, discipline construction and teaching staff are constantly optimized, which provides valuable enlightenment for the innovative development of ideological education in universities in the new era.