Private universities, referred to as private universities for short, are mainly operated by private capital, and their main sources of funds depend on tuition fees, donations and fundraising. Almost all countries in the world have private universities, which often become the mainstream of a country's higher education in terms of prestige and quantity. Because the origin of western universities is closely related to religious activities, the foundations of European and American universities are more inclined to private funds and their development is more independent.

State-owned universities are public universities. Public universities are established by the state, and the state provides part of the funds for their construction. Public universities in China are better than private universities, because they have a long history, profound cultural background, excellent style of study and relatively stable school-running strategies. The funds of private universities are raised by college sponsors in various ways, and the related management such as funds and tuition fees is managed according to the way of private universities, while the funds of public universities are all funded by the state.

The scale of schools is different: the number and scale of private schools are much lower than those of public schools, and the application procedures for private schools are more complicated. The number and scale of public schools far exceed that of private schools, and the application procedures for public schools are not complicated.

Different learning conditions: the learning cost of private schools is relatively high, there is no free teaching voice of V class, and it is best to have teaching facilities in public schools; The learning cost of public schools is relatively low, compulsory education is free, and the teaching facilities are worse than those of private schools.