The academic institutions of the armed forces of China include the educational institutions of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police (PAP). Throughout the history of the People's Republic of China, there have been many dramatic reforms to the military education system, closing, merging, reducing and reassigning institutions. The 2017 reforms saw another massive change, reduced the number of PLA academic institutions 67 to 37.^[1]

These institutions carry out training to all branches and arms of the PLA and PAP, from officer training to logistics, to technology, to NCO training.^[2] The changes in the structure of the system have not stopped. In January 2018, the Coast Guard Academy (海警学院) joined the PAP institution system.^[3]

The military program in civilian universities (equivalent to ROTC programs) is in flux and it is not clear what shape it will take in the near future, as of 2023.^[1]

The official English names are used where available. There is a significant amount of inconsistency in the translation of the Chinese terms 大学, 学院, and 学校, which should normally be "University", "Academy" and "School" respectively, but sometimes will be found as "College", "Academy", or "University" in different order, or other translations.

This table only lists military academic institutions (included in the military order of battle), and does not include non-military colleges and universities affiliated with the army or military factories (not included in the PLA's order of battle), such as Changsha Aviation Vocational and Technical College, the Chinese People's Liberation Army 4808 Factory Vocational and Technical School, etc.