According to IU, it was chartered in 1980 by the U.S. state of Alabama as a private degree-granting postsecondary institution.
[2] In 2011, IUV's sponsoring association went into bankruptcy and was shut down by court order.
Academic degrees granted by IU Vienna within the period of private university accreditation (4 January 2001 through 31 July 2003) are legally recognized in Austria and other EU countries.
Any degrees granted outside this period lack accredited status, and their use may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.
The initial accreditation had been granted only for a period of three years due to concerns on some critical issues (recruitment of scientific staff, research, library).