The training objectives of specialized masters and academic masters are different. Professional masters are oriented to professional practice, attach importance to practice and application training, and mainly cultivate high-level talents who have received formal high-level training in their major and professional technology. Academic masters pay more attention to theory and research, take academic research as the guidance, and train university teachers and researchers in scientific research institutions. The application conditions are different. Some professional masters have certain requirements for work experience, such as bachelor degree, more than three years of work experience, or a nationally recognized higher vocational diploma, and more than five years of work experience. However, the application conditions for academic masters generally only require academic qualifications, and there is basically no requirement for work experience.

The transfer requirements are different. It is almost impossible to transfer to an academic master due to the examination subjects and difficulty of the professional master, while the academic master can be transferred to a professional master in many cases, and the difficulty of admission is different. For most majors, the difficulty of professional master's examination is slightly lower than that of academic master's, such as professional master's public course, English subject is generally tested in English II, while academic master's public course is tested in English I, and most professional masters are not tested in public. Tuition fees are different, and the full-time professional master's fee standard is determined with reference to the current self-funded postgraduate fee standard for general majors. The academic master's fee standard, starting from the fall semester of 20 14, in principle, does not exceed 8000 yuan per year for master's students and 10000 yuan per year for doctoral students.