Tracing its roots to 1897, TIU formed in the late 1940s as the result of a merger of two schools:
A school run by the Swedish Evangelical Free Church, founded in 1897 in Chicago, and incorporated as the Swedish Bible Institute of Chicago, then affiliated with Moody Bible Institute as the Swedish Department until 1925 when it became the Swedish Evangelical Free Church Bible Institute and Seminary.
A three-year Bible school, the Norwegian-Danish Bible Institute and Academy, founded in 1910 by the Norwegian-Danish Free Church, established in Rushford, Minnesota and later moving to Minneapolis and becoming Trinity Seminary and Bible Institute.
By 1949, the Minneapolis-based school moved to Chicago and the unified schools became known as Trinity Seminary and Bible College. In 1961 the school moved to a new campus in Bannockburn, Illinois, and a year later was renamed Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Trinity College. The school grew from an enrollment of 51 in 1961 to 1,400 in 1990. In 1995, TEDS became part of Trinity International University, along with Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois, and Trinity College in Miami,. In 1997 Trinity Law School, located in Santa Ana, California, was incorporated into Trinity International University and the Trinity Graduate School was founded. In 2014, David S. Dockery was elected unanimously as the 15th president of Trinity. He was inaugurated in October of that year. Dockery has led the drive to establish a new strategic plan called Heritage & Hope: Trinity 2023, which outlines growth initiatives. Nicholas Perrin was elected as the 16th president in June 2019.
Approvals, accreditations and memberships
Trinity International University is exempt from the need to be approved to operate in Illinois by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, which lists it as a "private NFP institution". Its educational programs for K-12 teachers are approved by the Illinois State Board of Education so that TIU's graduates from said programs may obtain state-issued teaching credentials. TIU is, further, approved by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission Monetary Award Program so that TIU's students may receive Illinois educational grants and scholarships. Trinity International University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, The divinity school is also programmatically accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. Prior to 2003, TIU's athletic trainer program was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs ; however in 2003 the accreditation of such programs was taken over by the Joint Review Committee on Athletic Training ; and in 2006 JRC-AT became the Committee for Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. TIU's undergraduate athletic training educational program claims CAATE accreditation on its website. TIU's law school, located in Santa Ana, California, is accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. The normative nationwide USDE- and CHEA-approved accreditor of law schools is the American Bar Association. Within the state of California, though, law schools are also accredited by CALBAR CBE, which is neither USDE- or CHEA-approved. Graduates of non-ABA accredited program are not recognized outside of the state of California. TIU's Trinity Law School is also included as part of TIU's regional accreditation by the USDE- and CHEA-approved NCA-HLC. TIU is also a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the Christian College Consortium, and the Christian Adult Higher Education Association.
Athletics
Trinity International University teams are known as the Trojans. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, primarily competing in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, although its football program competes in the Mideast League of the Mid-States Football Association. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball and volleyball.
Notable alumni
Randall Balmer, Episcopal priest and John Phillips Professor in Religion, Dartmouth College
Paul Copan, Christian theologian, analytic philosopher, apologist, and author. Currently professor at the Palm Beach Atlantic University and holds the endowed Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics.
