Polytechnic Institute of Porto (Oporto)

The Polytechnic Institute of Porto, also referred to as Porto Polytechnic (Polytechnic of Porto) for naming and branding purposes, is a higher learning Portuguese institution composed of diverse polytechnic schools based in Porto. The Porto Polytechnic developed as a metropolitan institution with schools in Porto, Matosinhos, Póvoa de Varzim / Vila do Conde, Felgueiras and Vila Nova de Gaia. Porto Polytechnic was created in Porto in 1985 and its objective was to relaunch the polytechnic studies in Portugal. The Polytechnic started with two schools: the School of Education and the School of Music. In 1988, the ISCAP (Institute of Accountancy and Administration) and one year later the ISEP (Institute of Engineering), two schools founded in the 19th century were integrated. Today, it is the largest polytechnic institute of Portugal, with seven schools and 15,729 students enrolled for the 2007-2008 school-year. The Porto Polytechnic is organized as a confederation of polytechnic schools. In the school year of 2003/2004 the Polytechnic had 15,000 students, a third of them in its major college, the ISEP. It also had about 1000 teachers. 7000 students competed to enter in that year and 2000 entered.