The National Polytechnic Institute (Spanish: Instituto Politécnico Nacional), abbreviated IPN, is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 171,581 students[16] at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is the second-best university in Mexico in the technical and engineering domain according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018.[22] It was founded on 1 January 1936 during the administration of PresidentLázaro Cárdenas.[23]
During the administration of former director Alejo Peralta sufficient lands were given to IPN. Expropriated lands of Santa Maria Ticomán (213 ha) and San Pedro Zacatenco (43 ha) were used.[17]
The construction of what is now the Professional Unit "Adolfo López Mateos" (Zacatenco) began in 1958. In 1959, former PresidentAdolfo López Mateos, the former minister of educationJaime Torres Bodet, and former director of IPN Eugenio Mendez Docurro, inaugurated the first four buildings of Zacatenco, which were occupied by the Superior School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (ESIME) and the Superior School of Engineering and Architecture (ESIA).[17]
These schools are primarily in Mexico City, although several extension and research facilities are distributed over 22 states.[16]
Some units (particularly the semi-autonomous, internationally renowned CINVESTAV) enjoy a high degree of academic and budgetary freedom. The institute as a whole is headed by a director-general appointed by the President of Mexico, usually (but not always) after some consultation with members of its academic community.[25] Since December 2020, its director-general has been Arturo Reyes Sandoval.
In addition to its academic endeavors, and as part of its cultural promotion strategy, the institute operates 'Canal Once' ('Channel Eleven'), the oldest public broadcast service in Latin America[26] featuring original cultural, scientific, information and entertainment programming, foreign shows and classic, rare, and non-commercial films from all over the world.
Like most public universities in Mexico, in addition to its undergraduate and graduate schools the institute sponsors several vocational high schools called 'Centros de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos' (C.E.C. y T.), most of which are in Greater Mexico City. Upon completion, they lead to a technician degree. For this level of study, the institute offers 78 technical careers.[16]
The university maintains a fierce rivalry with all the athletic teams from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); it has a particularly bitter competition with UNAM's football program, the "Pumas Dorados" (Golden Pumas).
^Asociación Mexicana de Educación Continua y a Distancia A.C. (AMECYD). "Instituciones Afiliadas" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
^Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Postgrado (AUIP). "Asociadas a la AUIP" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
^Cooperación Latinoamericana de Redes Avanzadas (CLARA). "Miembros México" (in Spanish). Retrieved December 9, 2009.
^Consejo Mexicano de Estudios de Posgrado A.C. (COMEPO). "COMEPO - Miembros Afiliados" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2009.