According to the list of the Ministry of Education, there are 3 1 colleges and universities in Dalian, including 2 1 colleges for ordinary undergraduates (public undergraduate 12, 9 private undergraduate, 9 independent colleges) and 0/0 colleges for higher vocational colleges (3 public vocational colleges and 7 private vocational colleges).

Cities with more undergraduate colleges than higher vocational colleges are all cities with strong higher education strength.

At the same time, as an important port city and strategic location, Dalian also has two military academies, Dalian Naval Academy and Dalian Communication NCO School of the Air Force. Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenyang Conservatory of Music, Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts and other universities in the province have also established branches in Dalian.

Dalian is one of the sub-provincial cities of China 15, one of the five cities under separate state planning, the economic center of Liaoning and even the whole Northeast, an important coastal city and an important international port of China, an important city in the north, an international shipping center, an international logistics center, an international trade center and a regional financial center in Northeast Asia. All these make Dalian the most powerful city in higher education.

Undergraduate colleges in Dalian:

12 state-owned universities: Dalian University of Technology, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian Medical University, Dalian International Studies University, Dalian University for Nationalities, dalian polytechnic university, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian Ocean University, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Liaoning Police College.

5 private universities: university of international business and economics, Liaoning, Dalian University of Science and Technology, Dalian University of Finance and Economics, Dalian Neusoft Institute of Information, Dalian Art College.

Three independent colleges: dalian polytechnic university College of Arts and Information Engineering, City College of Dalian University of Technology and Zhongshan College of Dalian Medical University.