At present, domestic colleges and universities are roughly divided into three categories according to their affiliation: subordinate colleges and universities, provincial colleges and universities, and municipal (prefectural) colleges and universities.

The competent department of the graduate school is the government and institutions at or above the provincial level, which refers to subordinate colleges (colleges directly under the Ministry of Education or other universities directly under the central government) and provincial colleges (the provincial government is the competent department, including the director of the provincial education department). Outside this range, there are universities whose competent departments are non-provincial and ministerial governments and institutions.