The invention relates to a lithium titanate anode material for lithium ion batteries and a preparation method thereof. The anode material takes a lithium source, a titanium source and a carbon source as raw materials, wherein the mole ratio of Li to Ti is 4.0-4.3:5; and the doping amount of the carbon source is 1 to 30 percent based on the total mass of the lithium source and the titanium source.The preparation method comprises the following steps of: 1) weighing the lithium source, the titanium source and the carbon source according to the mole ratio and the mass ratio respectively; 2) dissolving the lithium source and the carbon source into a solvent, dissolving the titanium source into the same solvent, adding the solution of titanium source into the solution of lithium source and carbon source, and performing stirring and ultrasonic mixing; 3) adding ammonia water, controlling the pH value of the mixed solution, performing stirring and heating to volatilize the solvent and the ammonia water to form viscous jelly, and performing vacuum heating and oven-drying to obtain a precursor dried gel; 4) under the protection of an inert gas, heating and roasting the precursor dried gel,cooling the precursor dried gel to room temperature, and then crushing and grinding the precursor dried gel; 5) performing mould-pressing to obtain a module; and 6) under the protection of the inert gas, heating and roasting the module again, cooling the module to the room temperature, and then performing crushing, grinding, sieving and oven-drying to obtain the lithium titanate anode material for the lithium ion batteries.