Shangqiu University was formerly known as Huayu College of Henan Agricultural University. It was co-founded by Henan Agricultural University and Chunlai Education Group in 2002. In 2011, it was converted into a private undergraduate university. The school currently has 14 teaching units, with 51 undergraduate majors and 38 junior college majors, forming a professional pattern with engineering as the main body and coordinated development of multiple disciplines such as engineering, agriculture, management, art, literature, education, science, and economics. Among them, landscape architecture, civil engineering and electrical engineering and their automation, computer science and technology are the trump cards of the school. They were approved as a first-class undergraduate specialty construction site  and a characteristic specialty in Henan Province.

In recent years, the school has been approved for 76 provincial undergraduate teaching projects, including Henan Province key disciplines, Henan Province first-class professional construction sites, Henan Province characteristic majors, Henan Province comprehensive reform pilot majors, Henan Province brand majors, Henan Province discipline and major construction funding projects, Henan Province first-class courses, Henan Province quality online open courses, Henan Province Course ideological and political model courses, Henan Province Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, Henan Province Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching Project, Henan Province Excellent Grassroots Teaching Organization, Henan Province Qualified Grassroots Teaching Organization, etc. In 2020, the school successfully passed the Ministry of Education's undergraduate teaching qualification assessment. In 2021, the school was successfully approved as a master's degree awarding project construction unit, ranking 8th in the "Alumni Association's 2022 China Private University Rankings". It has successively won the titles of "China's Most Influential Private School", "Henan Province Civilized School", "Henan Province Safe Campus", "Henan Province Private School Advanced Education Unit", "Henan Province Outstanding Private College in the Forty Years of Reform and Opening Up", "Henan Province Private College Party Building" "Advanced Unit for Work", "Advanced Unit for Stability Maintenance in Higher Education Institutions in Henan Province", "Garden Unit of Henan Province", "The Most Beautiful University Campus in Henan Province", "Advanced Scientific Research Unit for Private Education in Henan Province", etc.