In China, universities and colleges are classified in different ways for administrative purposes by the Ministry of Education of China.
By designated academic emphasis
By designated academic emphasis, universities and colleges are classified into 12 categories by the Ministry of Education of China.
Comprehensive () Science and Engineering () Normal () Agriculture and Forestry () Political Science and Law () Medicine and Pharmacy () Finance and Economics () Ethnology () Linguistics () Fine Arts () Sports () Military Science ()
By institutional affiliation
By institutional affiliation, universities and colleges are classified into four categories.
National () Public universities and colleges that are directly affiliated with cabinet ministries and commissions of the State Council. Provincial () / Municipal () Public universities and colleges that are affiliated with provincial or municipal governments. Private () Universities and colleges that are operated by private enterprises. Independent college () Private colleges that are operated under cooperation between public universities and private enterprises. Independent colleges use the name of the cooperating public universities as the prefix of their own institutional names. However, independent colleges issue their own diplomas.
By institutional status
The Ministry of Education of China imposes strict naming regulations for the Chinese names of nationwide higher education institutions. Only institutions that satisfy all requirements set up by the ministry can use the stand-alone word "University" in their Chinese names. Otherwise, the institutions may only use other words such as "College," "Vocational and Technical University," or "Vocational and Technical College" instead.
University () The number of full-time students in the university should be more than 8,000. The number of postgraduate students on campus shall not be less than 5% of the total number of full-time students. In the humanities (), social sciences (), science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management and other disciplines, universities should have more than 3 disciplines as Main subjects. The general undergraduate majors in each major subject category should cover more than three first-level disciplines in that subject category. The number of full-time undergraduate and above students in each major subject category shall not be less than 15% of the total number of full-time undergraduate and above students in the school. Have at least 2 master's degree-granting points. The total number of general undergraduate majors offered by the school is at least 20. The proportion of full-time faculty members with graduate degrees should generally reach more than 50%, and the proportion of full-time faculty members with doctoral degrees in the total number of full-time faculty members should generally reach more than 20%. The number of full-time faculty members with senior professional and technical titles should generally be no less than 400, of which the number of full-time faculty members with full professor titles should generally be no less than 100. College () Vocational University/Vocational and Technical University () Vocational College/Vocational and Technical College () Senior Vocational School () Adult Higher Education School () Radio and TV University/Open University () Workers' College () Peasants' College () Institutes for Administration () Educational College () Independent Correspondence College ()
However, the Ministry of Education of China does not examine or regulate the English names of higher education institutions. Therefore, a number of colleges and vocational colleges in China adapt the stand-alone word "University" as part of their self-translated English names.