Chinese higher education has been faced with the dual challenges of system adjustment and regional balance since it was characterized by″late development and exogenous form .″During 1927 1937,due to the grim situation at home and abroad,Nanjing Nationalist Government took a series of educational reforms to build the modern higher education system,laying the foundation for organizational structure and system standardization .In this process,the system reference and the structural adjustment in the development of higher education became the focus of attention . From the emergence of Peiping University to the establishment of Northwest Associated University,the transition epitomizes the localization trial of the institutional transplant and equalization efforts of regional distribution in the development of China's higher education system reform . In 1927,Cai Yuanpei and others advocated the French reform of″University District System,″committed to getting rid of political control over education and pursuing the″academic education″and″academic studies,″which provided new system resources for the development of Chinese higher education,and led to the establishment of Peiping University in north China . However,the system was controversial in the implementation confined by times and finally ended up with the abolition of the″University District System .″In the brief process,it embodied the tension between reform and tradition,between university and society .In addition,it provided a reflection and a beneficial reference for the″localization″of China's higher education system . At that time,China experienced imbalanced development in politics,economy and culture,which resulted in the concentration of higher education institutions in the Republic of China and uneven distribution in departments,disciplines and regions . Io improve this situation,the Ministry of Education of the Nationalist Government paid more attention to practical disciplines,department abolition and building new colleges in the inner land,but the reform showed limited effects .With the outbreak of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident,colleges and universities located in North China were in predicament and the massive westward migration of colleges and universities created an opportunity for higher education adjustment .Although it was passive under the threat of the War,it contained profound underlying causes and social needs .After this adjustment,the inner requirement of the efforts of the Nationalist Government to promote higher education balance was realized,which laid a solid foundation for the subsequent development of higher education pattern in Northwestern China . Centered on the development of Northwest Associated University and displaying the institutional transformation of Chinese higher education,the paper aims at a study of the historical basis for the formation of China's northwestern higher education pattern and reflecting the conflicts and integration of the internal tradition of university development and social reality,based on the″localization″and″equalization″of higher education development,reforms on ″University district system,″the shift of higher education focus after″September 18 Incident″and the stipulation of the wartime education policies after″July 7th Incident .″