After the establishment of the Republic of China, there was a boom of private universities, whose development can be divided into 2 periods: the burgeoning stage (1912—1916) and the growing stage (1917—1928). Such a boom mainly resulted from: first, the political guarantee in the implementation of the “New Deal” in the late Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China; second, the economic foundation offered by the increasing private wealth in the development of national capitalist economy; third, the ideological foundation resulted from the various educational thoughts; fourth, the social atmosphere created by the unprecedented upsurge of the political enthusiasm of intellectuals; fifth, the example universities established by western churches in China. And the development of private colleges and universities in the Northern Warlords Government Period featured the following historical characteristics: the diversity of founders, the imbalance of the layout and structure of disciplines, the duality of governments encouragement and laissezfaire, and the inferior quality of running schools. At the same time, these private colleges and universities had cultivated a large number of outstanding talents for the national rejuvenation, independence and prosperity, and promoted the development of Chinese education.