Universities (colleges) refer to ordinary institutions of higher learning, which are organizations with unique functions. It is an institution of higher learning that inherits, studies, integrates and innovates advanced academic knowledge, and is interrelated with social, economic and political institutions.

It is not only the product of the development of human culture to a certain stage, but also a unique culture gradually formed on the basis of long-term school-running practice through historical accumulation, self-efforts and external environmental influence.

Modern universities around the world, which originated at the beginning of19th century, refer to the rationalistic transformation after the Enlightenment, especially the new universities represented by the University of Berlin founded by Humboldt in Germany.

It is generally believed that the establishment of 1809 Berlin University in Germany marks the birth of a university in the modern sense.

The fundamental difference between modern universities and medieval universities lies in the transformation of university functions.

Medieval universities were places to impart existing knowledge, excluding research and discovery of knowledge from universities, while modern universities took scientific research as their main function, increased human knowledge and trained scientific workers as their main tasks, and respected "academic freedom" and "unity of teaching and research".