Different definitions: Double-non-universities usually refer to non-985, 2 1 1 universities, or non-world-class universities and universities with first-class disciplines, that is, non-double-first-class universities. Double first-class is the strategic goal put forward by China government in promoting the development of higher education, aiming at cultivating a number of high-level universities with international influence and competitiveness and a number of first-class disciplines with characteristics and advantages.

Different recognition: the social recognition of double non-universities is relatively low. Double first-class universities have a high degree of recognition in society, because they have inherited and developed the concepts of 985 and 2 1 1 to a certain extent, and received key support from national policies.