The Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Spanish: [instiˈtuto poliˈtekniko nasjoˈnal], National Polytechnic Institute), abbreviated IPN, is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 171,581 students at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It was founded on 1 January 1936 during the administration of President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río as a response to provide professional education to the most disadvantaged social classes in that period, a practice that is maintained because it is one of the few vocational schools in the world.[22]