Xinyang Normal University , founded in 1975, was accredited by the State Council of China to enroll four-year-course students in 1978.In 1979 it became one of the first academic units of China to enjoy the right to confer BA degrees and in 1998 it was authorized by the State Council of China to award MA degrees.

    The university is situated to the east of Nanwan Lake, so-called " Pearl between Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers ", with Rooster Mountain, known as “Park in Clouds", to its south. Shaded by pines, firs and other trees and ornamented by flowers and fountains, the campus covers an area of 1，500 mu with 400 thousand square meters of floorage. The university has a library, comprising about 660 thousand volumes of books and more than 3，600 kinds of journal and magazine from all over the world, an experimental center with 55 laboratories, and an information center with 18 micro-teaching classrooms and multi-media classrooms. The teaching instruments and apparatus of the university have a total value of ￥ 37 ,000,000 and a number of large projects are being built on the campus.

    After some 30 years of joint efforts of faculty, staff and students, the university has developed into a modern one with 8 departments, 10 schools, 2 teaching and researching sections, covering four-year degree specialities of liberal arts, science, engineering technology, economics, art, PE and educational management. The university has a staff of 1，200 and in the full-time faculty of 860 there are over 200 professors and associate professors and 160 teachers with MA or PhD degrees. The total number of students has reached 14，000 excluding 6，000 correspondent and part-time students and graduates.

    The university concentrates its efforts on the mission to develop the intellect of students, to discover and disseminate knowledge and to serve and strengthen society by enhancing awareness in scientific, technical and educational arenas. Within this broad mission are the responsibilities to use quality instruction to instill in students a lifelong desire to learn, to use knowledge in ways that will contribute to society and to apply the resources and research skills of the university community to the service of the city, the province, the nation and the world in ways that will benefit humanity. An educational pattern has been established to train the students into qualified middle school teachers with a good sense of morality, rich knowledge, excellent skills and high competence. The education reform project "Two-direction Training: a New Approach to Teaching Practice for Normal University Students" completed by the university was awarded the first prize by the Education Commission of China and special prize by the Education Committee of Henan Province in 1994.In recent years, 31 pedagogical research projects have won prizes of all levels and 60 others have passed the province-level appraisal. In the College English Test (CET) and Computer Grade Test (CGT), the students from the university have always been at the top of the list of universities and colleges of Henan Province . On average, 16 percent of the students continue their study for MA degree and about 95 percent are employed at graduation. Many graduates from the university have become special-grade teachers, model teachers and model workers.

     Xinyang Normal University has always placed great emphasis on scientific research. Since 1996, the university has directed and completed 13 research projects funded by the National Social Science Fund and the National Science Fund, 160 projects by the Social Science Fund and the Science Fund of Henan Province, and other 166 sponsored by the Education Bureau of Henan Province.3230 papers and 215 books by the teachers of the university have been published, among which 407 were awarded prizes by governments of all levels. A number of applied scientific research projects have been converted into practical application. The university has established relations and carried out academic exchanges with some universities of USA , UK , Canada , Japan and South Korea . The journal of Xinyang Normal University is circulated in more than 10 countries and is listed in the core periodicals of social science of China .

     Xinyang Normal University pays much attention to and has achieved success in spiritual civilization. As a result, a good school spirit of "being united, diligent, realistic and innovational" has been established. The university has been entitled by Henan Province as "model university in students' social activities of Henan Province " for 16 years in succession and "model university in students' social activities of China " for 9 years in succession." National prize for wiping out illiteracy", "civilized campus of Henan Province ", "garden-like unit of Xinyang City " and other prizes and honorary titles have been awarded to the university.

      In 2001, the university successfully passed the education evaluation carried out by the Education Ministry of China, and is striving to improve in a large scale the physical and academic environments and in 5 or 10 years to develop the university into one of the most outstanding normal universities of China.