Blends of a thermoplastic polyimide (TPI) and a polymer liquid crystal (PLC) were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The presence of PLC enhances orientation in the system and lowers the crystallization temperature-a manifestation of the channeling effect predicted theoretically (38). The degradation studies show high temperature stability of all blends with the degradation onset consistently above 520 degrees C. The onset decreases with PLC concentration but reaches a plateau above 30 wt% PLC when the PLC-rich islands are formed. The amount of moisture absorbed decreases with the PLC concentration while the moisture does not affect the degradation of the samples significantly. A phase diagram is constructed for the PLC + TPI blends from the DSC and TGA data. A comparison of amorphous and semicrystalline TPI and the characterization of amorphous TPI + PLC blends will be reported later.