1. The small institutions they founded would not have seemed to them like universities -- they were tiny and did not offer the higher degrees in medicine and theology .
2. The tiny institutions they founded would not have appeared to them like universities -- they were small and did not offer the higher qualifications in medicine and theology .

Select your answer from the options. Are these two sentences paraphrases of each other?
OPT: --no; --yes;...I think the answer is
yes