Henan Polytechnic University has been a partner of the University of Limerick for over a decade. Before the pandemic, the two institutions applied to the Chinese Ministry of Education to form a joint institute, which is an important model of transnational education in China, which allows overseas partners (in this case UL) to deliver higher education within the country.
The doors of the new joint institute – Limerick International College Henan Polytechnic University (LICHPU) – opened in September 2024. Currently, 193 students are enrolled in 2 undergraduate courses – BEng Electronic Engineering, and BEng Electronic and Computer Engineering. All students admitted to these courses achieved the entrance requirement of Gaokao Tier 1, which indicates the quality of students enrolled. Over the coming years, the institute will grow and mature. When it is fully up and running there will be close to 1,000 students as the current undergraduate students' progress into Years 2, 3 and 4, new undergraduate cohorts join, and two master's programmes are also launched.
This is a pioneering development, where for the first time entire UL programmes are being taught on Chinese soil.
