Dallas International University (DIU), located on the International Linguistics Center in Dallas, TX, was founded March 31, 1998, as the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL). DIU has a rich history dating back to 1972 when Texas-SIL classes commenced. When SIL decided to seek accreditation for its training program, a new and separate institution was necessary. Thus, the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics was formed.

In the fall of 1999, GIAL opened its doors to students for the first time, offering a Master of Arts in either Applied Linguistics or Language Development under a license from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The first graduates received their degrees the following June 2000. In 2003, GIAL became a candidate for accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC: https://sacscoc.org/) to award master-level degrees, and in December 2005, GIAL received full accreditation. This accreditation has been reaffirmed in 2010 and again in 2020.

In 2013, GIAL established the College of International Studies to offer upper-division courses for a Bachelor of Arts in International Service, a substantive change for the school, which was granted accreditation through SACSCOC, making GIAL officially both an undergraduate and graduate school of higher education. The Master of Arts in World Arts was first offered in 2012, and CEWA ─ the Center for Excellence in World Arts ─ was launched in early 2015 to further GIAL’s collaboration with other organizations fostering education in world arts. In 2017, GIAL began offering a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree, with the first students at the freshman or sophomore level starting in the Spring of 2018. On September 1, 2018, the school’s name was officially changed to Dallas International University, and in that same year, DIU received permission to award a PhD in World Arts with its first doctoral students beginning in the Fall of 2019 and making DIU a level-5 doctoral granting institution.

In 2021 DIU approved two new graduate programs, a Master of Arts in Translation Advising and another in Human Migration. As the world continues to expand with new challenges and opportunities, DIU remains committed to preparing students with innovative and rigorous study programs that prepare them for excellence in their respective fields and careers.

We have had outstanding professors join DIU over its short life span, many of whom have performed extensive fieldwork in the subjects which they teach as well as having terminal degrees. Dallas International University’s location on the International Linguistics Center provides students an opportunity to interact with a wide variety of people who have extensive experience in all of the academic domains offered at DIU. The constant influx of experienced personnel who have lived and worked in many different cultures and countries makes DIU an ideal place to expand one’s horizons.