The 20th CPC National Congress highlighted the need for a people-centered approach to educational development, emphasizing the acceleration of a high-quality education system and the regulation of private education. In this context, promoting the reform and development of private education through rule-of-law thinking is a key component of building a strong educational nation. With the in-depth implementation of classified management for private education, the new Law on the Promotion of Private Education establishes a crucial distinction between non-profit and profit-oriented private schools, laying the foundation for a legal discussion of school sponsors’ status, and providing an important opportunity for the reconstruction and classification of the legal status of the sponsors. However, the law and its implementation regulations do not explicitly define the legal status or the extent of the legitimate rights of private school sponsors. This paper examines the legal status of private school sponsors by analyzing the concept and existing literature, addressing the practical realities of their roles, and detailing the rights and obligations of sponsors in both non-profit and profit-making private schools and the comparison principles of private schools in the transitional period. This paper provides a framework for the normative reconstruction of the sponsors’ legal status, contributing to the high-quality development of private education in China.