[3] The institute was established in 1919 at the cessation of World War I. Nobel Peace Prize winners Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, Elihu Root, former secretary of state, and Stephen Duggan, Sr., professor of political science at the College of the City of New York (and IIE's first president) formed the Institute of International Education with the idea that educational exchange would incite understanding between nations.

[4] IIE president Stephen Duggan influenced the U.S. government to create a new category of non-immigrant student visas, bypassing post-war quotas set by the Immigration Act of 1921.

IIE began producing an annual statistical analysis of the foreign student population in the United States and named the study, Open Doors.

The International Education Information Center opened at IIE's New York headquarters in the 1980s and new offices in Budapest and Hanoi were established in the 90s.

Eleven delegates representing seven U.S. colleges and universities traveled to Southeast Asia to enhance and expand linkages with institutions in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

[4] In 2012, IIE began administering the government of Brazil's Scientific Mobility Program, which provides scholarships to Brazilian undergraduate students primarily in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

Each office networks local colleges, universities, and NGOs to administer regional programs as well as ensure the goals of sponsors are fulfilled.

[9] IIE's publications, reports, and policy papers also provide resources for students and advisers, domestic and international governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and foundations.