The concept of "2A institutions" comes from Chinese mainland's higher education system, which refers to the lower-ranking institutions among ordinary undergraduate institutions with undergraduate education. These institutions usually do not have the title of "2 1 1 or 985 Project" or the reputation of other key institutions, but they still play an important role in teaching, scientific research and social services, providing students with opportunities to receive higher education.

In China, there are a large number of 2A universities, including national universities, local universities, normal universities, agriculture and forestry universities, polytechnic universities and arts universities. These institutions are all over the country, covering almost the whole Chinese mainland area. The following are some famous 2A institutions:

Henan Polytechnic University: Located in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province, it is a comprehensive university focusing on engineering, covering engineering, science, management, literature, law, art and other fields. It is one of the important training bases for coal and mining engineering, mechanical engineering and safety engineering in Chinese mainland.

Shandong Jianzhu University: Located in Jinan City, Shandong Province, it is a comprehensive university focusing on architecture and urban planning, civil engineering, environmental science and engineering, and one of the influential architectural colleges in Chinese mainland.

Guangdong University of Technology: Located in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, it is a comprehensive university focusing on engineering, management and art design. It is a famous engineering college in Chinese mainland, and its mechanical engineering, material science and engineering have certain influence at home and abroad.

Henan University of Science and Technology: Located in Luoyang City, Henan Province, it is a comprehensive university focusing on engineering, science, management and literature, and is one of the important training bases for talents in metallurgy, materials and machinery in Chinese mainland.

Changchun Normal University: Located in Changchun City, Jilin Province, it is a comprehensive normal university focusing on education, literature, science, engineering and management. It is one of the famous normal universities in Chinese mainland, and its pedagogy, literature and other majors have a certain influence at home and abroad.

In addition to the above institutions, there are many other 2A institutions, such as Nanchang University, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Hunan University, Jiangsu Normal University and Liaoning Normal University. Although these universities are not ranked as well as some key universities, their teaching quality, teachers and scientific research strength have been recognized and praised by students and society.