As an important part of aesthetic education,art education is of great significance for the construction of modern higher education system of China. The research suggests that the improvement of art education on the quality of students in science and engi- neering colleges is mainly reflected in four dimensions,including the improvement of visual thinking ability,the cultivation of personal- ity,the shaping of mental health and personality and the formation of college cultural mechanism. With the goal of cultivating visual thinking ability,students can discover,understand and perceive the beauty,the art education can help improve the overall spiritual connotation of students. the art education system is complete and scientific,which is based on the four dimensions of cultivating and shaping the personality of science and engineering students under the humanistic orientation.