According to the official data of Yinchuan Education Bureau, Yinchuan University (formerly North University for Nationalities) is not a 2 1 1 985 university at present, but a private institution of higher learning. There is only one national "2 1 1 project" key construction university in Yinchuan, which is Ningxia University.

The appellations of "2 1 1" and "985" refer to a number of key universities recognized by China's Ministry of Education and the State Council, including some comprehensive universities of science and engineering. Yinchuan University of Energy (Yinchuan University) is an ordinary undergraduate university with the right to award bachelor's degrees approved by the Ministry of Education, a governing unit of the National Universities of Applied Sciences League, and a pilot institution for the transformation and development of local undergraduate universities in Ningxia.