Trinity International University (TIU) is an evangelical Christian liberal arts institution of higher education headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, United States. It comprises an undergraduate college, a graduate school, a theological seminary (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), and a law school—together with nearly 3,000 students.[1]Trinity Law School is located in Santa Ana, California; the university also maintains campuses in Florida and Chicago,Illinois. TIU is operated by the Evangelical Free Church of America.

　　History

　　Tracing its roots to 1897, TIU formed in the late 1940s as the result of a merger of three schools:

　　A school run by the Swedish Evangelical Free Church, founded in 1897 in Chicago, initially as a 10-week Bible course and then growing into the Swedish Bible Institute of Chicago and finally becoming the Swedish Department of Moody 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 College

　　The Evangelical Free Church Bible Institute and Seminary, established in Chicago in 1925.

　　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 (TEDS) 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, (formerly Miami Christian College which was obtained through a merger of the two institutions). In 1997 Trinity Law School, located in Santa Ana, California, was incorporated into Trinity International University and the Trinity Graduate School was founded. Also runs distance education in Africa with New World Mission Dunamis International University.

　　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 (IBHE), which lists it as a "private NFP (not-for-profit) institution". Its educational programs for K-12 teachers are approved by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) so that TIU's graduates from said programs may obtain state-issued teaching credentials. TIU is, further, approved by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) (formerly the Illinois State Scholarship Commission (ISSC)) Monetary Award Program (MAP) so that TIU's students may receive Illinois educational grants and scholarships.

　　TIU's undergraduate college, its graduate school, its divinity school, and its law school are all accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA-HLC), one of the six US Department of Education (USDE) and the USDE-sanctionedCouncil for Higher Education (CHEA) approved regional accreditors in the United States. Its divinity school is further accredited by the USDE- and CHEA-approved Commission on Accrediting of the The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).

　　Prior to 2003, TIU's athletic trainer program was accredited by the CHEA-approved Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP); however in 2003 the accreditation of such programs was taken over by the Joint Review Committee on Athletic Training (JRC-AT) which was neither USDE- or CHEA-approved; and in 2006 JRC-AT became the Committee for Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). TIU's undergraduate athletic training educational program claims CAATE accreditation on its website; however, CAATE, though credible, remains an agency not approved by either USDE or CHEA.

　　TIU's law school, located in Santa Ana, California, is accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) of the State Bar of California (CALBAR). The normative nationwide USDE- and CHEA-approved accreditor of law schools is the American Bar Association (ABA). Within the state of California, though, law schools accredited by CALBAR CBE, which is neither USDE- or CHEA-approved, are often considered to be as credible as those accredited by the ABA. However, outside of California, a CALBAR CBE approved law school is treated with less respect than an ABA approved law school.TIU's Trinity Law School(Santa Ana campus only) is also included as part of TIU's regional accreditation by the USDE- and CHEA-approved NCA-HLC.

　　TIU is one of around 3,000 institutional members of CHEA,one of the two entities (along with USDE) that approves two of its accreditors.

　　The organizations of which TIU is also a member include the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU),the Christian College Consortium (CCC), and the Christian Adult Higher Education Association (CAHEA).

　　Athletics

　　Trinity International teams are known as the Trojans. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), although its football program competes in the Mideast League of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball and volleyball.