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Is it really a university? China's rule on who may use the words 大学 and 学院

Sources checked · Unofficial summary

No. Under the 2021 opinions issued by the Ministry of Education and seven other departments, the words 大学 (university) and 学院 (college) may be used in a name by universities and colleges that have been approved, and by certain bodies they set up or initiate. Other organisations may not use the words when they register, on signboards, in advertising, or in other activities. To check a name yourself, start with this directory's section page.

This page is a reference guide. The English is this site's translation of the Chinese texts, and the official texts are in Chinese.

How universities and colleges are approved

Article 29 of the Higher Education Law (adopted 29 August 1998, amended 27 December 2015 and 29 December 2018) sets the approval routes for new institutions.

  • An institution offering undergraduate or higher education is approved by the State Council education administration department.
  • An institution offering specialist (junior college) education is approved by the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality, and filed for the record with the State Council education administration department.
  • Other higher education institutions are approved by the provincial education administration department.

Paragraph 2 of Article 29 says that the approval of a new institution shall be entrusted to an evaluation body made up of experts. Paragraph 3 says that splitting, merging, ending, renaming or changing the category of an institution is approved by the same authority that approved its establishment.

Who may register and use the words

Paragraph 1 of the 2021 opinions (教发〔2021〕5号, signed 13 May 2021) states that 大学 and 学院 are legal persons with specific functions. They shall be established after approval under laws, national standards and procedures, and a name may be used once it has been approved.

Paragraph 1 also divides the approving authorities. Universities are approved or filed under the State Council education administration department. Colleges are approved by central and state departments, or by provincial governments and their departments, depending on their level, type and legal nature. Where a public institution with independent legal status carries the word 大学 or 学院 and its matters involve institutional establishment, it is reported to the institutional establishment department for approval under that department's procedures.

Paragraph 2 says that an approved university or college, and any other legal person it initiated and lawfully set up, may use the words when registering with the institutional establishment, civil affairs and market regulation departments. Paragraph 2 also says that other organisations may not use the words when registering.

Who may not use the words

Paragraph 3 says that, apart from approved universities and colleges, their internal institutions, and organisations they initiated and lawfully registered, other organisations may not use 大学 or 学院 on signboards, in advertising, in publicity, or in other activities.

Internal training bodies set up by enterprises

Paragraph 5 covers internal training institutions that enterprises set up and that need no approval or registration. Departments shall guide and supervise these bodies to standardise their names. The bodies may not use the names or abbreviations 大学 or 学院 in any form of publicity or other activities.

Paragraph 5 also names the body responsible for supervision by type of sponsor:

  • For a state-owned enterprise, the body that performs investor duties.
  • For a bank or insurance institution, the banking and insurance regulator.
  • For other sponsors, the business supervisory department of the sponsoring body. Where there is no such department, the education department works with the market regulation department and others.

Seniors' universities and community colleges

Paragraph 7 covers seniors' universities (老年大学) and community colleges (社区学院) that relevant departments have approved and that offer non-degree education and training to specific groups. They may not use 大学 or 学院 alone. They may use names such as "XX老年大学" or "XX社区学院".

The clean-up

Paragraph 4 says that the institutional establishment, civil affairs and market regulation departments shall review registered names that contain 大学 or 学院. Names that do not meet the rules are corrected by an application to change, by a change made by the approving authority, or by a change made by the registration authority on its own initiative.

Paragraph 6 asks each level of education, institutional establishment, civil affairs, human resources and social security, and market regulation department to supervise the use of the names by the bodies it approves or registers. Provincial departments shall guide the departments in their provinces.

Paragraph 8 sets a deadline. Within 6 months after the opinions are issued, the regions and departments shall organise a clean-up. Bodies that still use the words after the deadline may be ordered to correct their conduct, or dealt with under law, by the education, institutional establishment, human resources and social security, civil affairs or market regulation department, according to the principles of administration and location. Paragraph 8 says that false or illegal advertising is ordered to stop and penalised by the market regulation department under law. It says that an act that violates public security administration is penalised under that law, and that an act that constitutes a crime is subject to criminal liability.

The national list as of 17 June 2026

The Ministry of Education's national list page gives the position as of 17 June 2026. The page states that there were 3,196 higher education institutions in mainland China in total. Of these, 2,952 were regular higher education institutions, including 1,412 undergraduate institutions and 1,540 higher vocational (specialist) institutions. The page states that 244 were adult higher education institutions. The page also states that it does not include higher education institutions in Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan.

Attachment 1 of the page is the list of regular higher education institutions. Attachment 2 is the list of adult higher education institutions. Attachment 1 has seven columns:

Column (Chinese) English label on this page
序号 Serial number
学校名称 Institution name
学校标识码 Institution code
主管部门 Competent authority
所在地 Location
办学层次 Level of study
备注 Remarks

The official lists are in Chinese. The English names of institutions and disciplines on this directory are its own renderings, and this page names no institution.

How to check a name

  1. Open the national list page and note the date, 17 June 2026.
  2. Open attachment 1, the list of regular higher education institutions.
  3. Search the 学校名称 column for the Chinese name, exactly as printed.
  4. Read the 学校标识码 and 主管部门 of the row you find.
  5. Confirm the result against the current official list.

Being on the list does not show that an institution enrols international students in a given programme. For that, use the institution's own admission materials.

Questions people ask

Can a company's training centre call itself a university or college?

Paragraph 5 of the 2021 opinions says that internal training institutions set up by enterprises, which need no approval or registration, may not use the names or abbreviations 大学 or 学院 in any form of publicity or other activities. Departments shall guide and supervise these bodies to standardise their names.

Can a seniors' university use the word 大学?

Paragraph 7 of the 2021 opinions says that approved seniors' universities and community colleges offering non-degree education to specific groups may not use 大学 or 学院 alone. They may use names such as "XX老年大学" or "XX社区学院".

Who approves a new university?

Paragraph 1 of Article 29 of the Higher Education Law says that an institution offering undergraduate or higher education is approved by the State Council education administration department. The same paragraph says that a specialist institution is approved by the provincial-level people's government and filed for the record with the State Council education administration department.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026.

This page is an unofficial summary. It is not published by the Ministry of Education or by any university, it promises no admission outcome, and the official Chinese text and the current official list prevail if they differ.

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