On the 24th of September, 1997, the Prime Minister issued Decision No 797/QĐ-TTg on the establishment of Hong Duc University (HDU) through the amalgamation of three tertiary institutions: College of Education, College of Economics and Technique, and Thanh Hoa Medical College (previously all known for over 40-years training experiment). HDU was the first of Vietnam’s educational system to be built by a new model: a public, multi-discipline institution operating under the jurisdiction of the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa Province and the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Training.
The university was named after the date of Emperor Le Thanh Tong, regarded as one of the greatest emperors in Vietnam’s feudal system history. The establishment of HDU has brought tremendous pleasure and pride to leaders and citizens because this is the first University of Thanh Hoa province to represent rich traditions of history, culture, fondness for learning, and 1000- years of competition-examinations.