According to the university ranking of Qingdao Alumni Association, China Ocean University (ranked 38th in China) ranks first and is the best state-owned university in Qingdao, China University of Petroleum East China Campus (ranked 83rd in China) ranks second, Shandong University of Science and Technology (ranked 1 16 in China) ranks third, followed by Qingdao University, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao University of Technology and Qingdao Agricultural University. This is the ranking of state-owned universities.

The ranking of private universities is: Qingdao Film Academy (national ranking of private universities 1 1) ranks first, which is the best private university in Qingdao, Qingdao Binhai College (national ranking 12) ranks second, Qingdao Huanghai College (national ranking 3 1) ranks third, followed by Qingdao Institute of Technology and Qingdao Science and Technology. This is the ranking of private universities.

Take the college entrance examination in Shandong Province as an example. In 2022, the minimum admission score for general majors in China Ocean University is 594, and that for Chinese-foreign cooperative education is 568. In 2022, the minimum admission score for general majors in China Youshi University was 578. In 2022, the minimum admission score for general majors in Shandong University of Science and Technology was 528 points.