There are four universities in Tianjin, namely:

Nankai University, referred to as "Nankai" for short, located in Tianjin, is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education of People's Republic of China (PRC) and a national "double-class" construction university.

Tianjin University, referred to as Tianjin for short, is the first batch of national key universities directly under the Ministry of Education of People's Republic of China (PRC). It is a national "double first-class" construction university, one of the first batch of "2 1 1 Project" and "985 Project" construction universities, and one of the pilot universities of China Academy of Engineering and Ministry of Education 10 engineering education reform.

Hebei University of Technology, located in Tianjin, was founded by Hebei Provincial People's Government, Tianjin Municipal People's Government, China People's Government and Ministry of Education. It is a national "double-class" construction university and a national "2 1 1 project" key construction university.

Tianjin Medical University, referred to as "TMU", is located in Tianjin. It is a university built for the Tianjin Municipal People's Government, the National Health and Wellness Commission and the Ministry of Education. It is a national "double-class" construction university and a national "2 1 1 project" key construction university.