International education in HENU is renowned for its long history. In 1912, the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America, the predecessor of HENU, was founded and became one of the three major schools to prepare students for overseas study in China.

Inheriting an open and prospective educational philosophy and conforming to the tendency of internationalization in the 21^stcentury, HENU established International Education Center in March, 2002, which was renamed as International Education College (i.e. IEC) three months later. The establishment of IEC accorded with new tendencies and demands of both economic globalization and educational internationalization after China entered WTO. It was a decision of strategic and overall significance made in the 90^thanniversary of the founding of HENU.

In Sept. 2003, the Chinese-Australian program cooperatively run with Victoria University, Australia (i.e.VU), started to enroll students, providing undergraduate courses in International Economics and Trade, Accounting, and Computer Science and Technology. The Chinese-Russian program jointly run with St. Petersburg University, Russia, started to enroll at the same time, providing undergraduate courses in Information Management and Information Technology.

In Jun. 2004, the first group of students on Chinese-Russian program went abroad for study.

In Jul.2005, the first group of students on Chinese-Australian program went abroad for study.

In Sept. 2005, the cooperative program between HENU and Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany, started to enroll students, providing undergraduate courses in Bio-engineering and International Economics and Trade.

In Jun. 2006, the first group of students on Chinese-German program went abroad for study.

In 2007, the college successfully passed the Undergraduate Teaching Assessment by the Ministry of Education of China.

In 2011, programs successfully passed the Assessment of Pilot Sino-foreign Cooperative Programs by the Ministry of Education of China.

In Sept. 2013, the cooperative program with the University of Miami (UM), the United States, started to enroll students, with four different undergraduate courses provided – Environmental Engineering, Bio-medical Engineering, Software Engineering (Geographic Information System) and Architectural Engineering.

In Sept. 2014, the cooperative program with Monarch University, Australia, started to enroll students, offering undergraduate courses in Finance and Statistics. Meanwhile, a new Sino-American program run with Florida Institute of Technology, the US, started to enroll students majoring in measurement technology and instrument (testing and maintaining aeronautical equipment), computer science and technology (aviation), and business administration (aviation logistics).

On Aug. 31, 2015, the application for establishing Miami College of Henan University was authorized by the Ministry of Education, a breakthrough, also a landmark in Chinese-foreign cooperation in running schools in Henan Province and the Central Region of China.

In Oct. 2016, courses of Accounting and Computer Science and Technology offered by the program with Victoria University, Australia, successfully passed the Assessment of Sino-foreign Cooperative Programs by the Ministry of Education of China.

In Jun. 2016, the first group of students on the program run with Monarch University, Australia, went abroad for further study; the first group of students on the program with Florida Institute of Technology of America went abroad for study.

In Jun. 2016, the cooperative program with Victoria University, Australia, entered a new development stage of offering degree courses in Accounting, International Economics and Trade, and Computer Science and Technology.