Liverpool Hope University is a university in Liverpool, England. Two of its three founding colleges were established in 1844 and 1856, the third opening in the 1960s. It is the only ecumenical university in Europe.Based on two campuses, the main campus is located in Childwall and the second campus, The Cornerstone, is located in Everton. The University has an impressive graduate employment rate and attracts students from some 65 countries worldwide.

Two of the University's founding colleges, St. Katharine's (1844) and Notre Dame (1856) were established in the 19th century. These Colleges were in Warrington and Liverpool City Centre respectively. They were supplemented on Merseyside when a second Catholic teacher education College, Christ's College, on a site adjacent to St. Katharine's, admitted its first students in 1965.

In 1980 these three Colleges joined in an ecumenical federation under the holding title of Liverpool Institute of Higher Education (LIHE). Archbishop Derek Worlock and Bishop David Sheppard wrote of this as being "a sign of hope".

In 1995 a new Instrument and Articles of Government established a single, unified, ecumenical College, and a new name - Liverpool Hope - which better reflected its role and Mission. A company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity was formed.

Meanwhile, expansion followed in both the range of degrees and in student numbers. The status of a fully accredited institution of the University of Liverpool had been achieved in 1994. This gave full responsibility to the College for the quality and standards of its course provision and provided recognition of its academic standing.

In 1998, the Accreditation Agreement with the University of Liverpool was renewed for five years and extended to cover taught postgraduate awards. After extensive scrutiny by the Quality Assurance Agency in 2001 and 2002, Liverpool Hope University College gained taught degree awarding powers in August 2002.

The application to become a University - submitted in September 2004 - was successful and the Privy Council approved the title Liverpool Hope University in July 2005, granting Hope full University status under the leadership of Professor Pillay, who is now the University's Vice-Chancellor.

On 25 January 2006, Baroness Cox, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, was installed as the University's Foundation Chancellor.

Subjects at Liverpool Hope are grouped into Deaneries. There are four Deaneries and each of the Deans is a member of the Rectorate Team (Hope's Senior Management Team).

The Deanery of Arts & Humanities is led by Dr Terry Philips. The deanery includes creative and performing arts - Music, Art, Design, Drama, Theatre Studies, Dance mainly based at Hope's Everton campus - as well as Media, English, History, Politics, Theology and Religious Studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Theology obtained a 4 in the 2001 RAE and there are research strengths in other areas of the Deanery such as English and History.

The Education Deanery, headed by Professor Jon Nixon, includes all Initial Teacher Training programmes (BA QTS and PGCE), Special Needs, Education Studies and Early Childhood Studies as well as a range of Foundation Degrees, Masters and CPD courses. There is a growing research culture within the Deanery.

The Business and Computing Deanerywhose Dean is Dr John Brinkman, contains the Liverpool Hope Business School and a variety of IT programmes. Masters programmes in Business Management and Computing are very popular, particularly with international students, as is the MBA.

The Deanery of Sciences & Social Sciences , led by Dr Penny Haughan, covers a wide range of subjects from Sport, Health and Geography to Sociology, Psychology and Criminology. There are a number of Masters programmes and areas of research strength.

Liverpool Hope University is an ecumenical Christian Foundation which strives:

• to provide opportunities for the well-rounded personal development of Christians and students from other faiths and beliefs, educating the whole person in mind, body and spirit, irrespective of age, social or ethnic origins or physical capacity, including in particular those who might otherwise not have had an opportunity to enter higher education;
• to be a national provider of a wide range of high quality programmes responsive to the needs of students, including the education, training and professional development of teachers for Church and state schools;
• to sustain an academic community, as a sign of hope, enriched by Christian values and worship, which supports teaching and learning, scholarship and research, encourages the understanding of Christian and other faiths and beliefs and promotes religious and social harmony;
• to contribute to the educational, religious, cultural, social and economic life of Liverpool, Merseyside, the North-West and beyond.