According to the College Entrance Examination 100, Dali University is better than Universities of Applied Sciences in western Yunnan. Dali University ranked 328th in China in 2023; Universities of Applied Sciences in western Yunnan ranked 582nd in China in 2023.

Dali University, referred to as PolyU, is located in Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Selected as the pilot university of "Excellent Doctoral Education and Training Program" of the Ministry of Education, it is a comprehensive undergraduate school with the advantages of medicine, pharmacy, education and biology, featuring ethnology and art, multidisciplinary cross-integration and multi-level coordinated development.

Universities of Applied Sciences (hereinafter referred to as Yunnan University) is located in Dali City, Yunnan Province. It is a full-time public undergraduate college jointly established by the Ministry of Education and the Yunnan Provincial People's Government. It is organized by the Yunnan Provincial People's Government and headed by the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education. It is the first batch of Universities of Applied Sciences approved by the Ministry of Education, one of the six precision assistance projects of the Ministry of Education in western Yunnan, and a member of Yunnan Surveying and Mapping Geographic Information Society.