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Serving the Alto Minho region of Portugal, IPVC was established in 1980 and is formed from six specialised institutions distributed across the main towns of the region. It aims to be "a socially responsible polytechnic, generating global knowledge and enhancing the development of Alto Monho".

The high school of health, which was founded in 1974 with 29 students training as nursing assistants, theh high school of education and the superior school of technology and management are all located in Viana do Costelo. The agrarian high school is based at Ponte de Lima, with the high school of business science in Valenca and the high school of sport and leisure in Melgaco.

In 2019-20, IPVC enrolled a total of 4,552 students, 3,134 of them undergraduates. Just under half came from Alto Minho, and 182 were on scholarships. Close to half of them, 2242, studied at the school of technology and management.

IPVC offers "strong interactive learning with increasing use of real case studies, which allows students to better understand social reality and the functioning of cultural and social phenomena".

New courses on offer in 2023 include arts and digital cinema at the school of education, and gastronomy and culinary arts at the school of technology and management. The school of technology and management marked its jubilee with a a new 400-bed hall of residence, while the agrarian high school opened a new animal-welfare centre which will help train veterinary students.