Established in 1964, the Vermont campus of SIT served as the first training site for the newly-founded Peace Corps and originally consisted of a small collection of dorms around a Carriage House on a scenic farm on the north end of Brattleboro.

By 1968, the small but increasing number of returned Peace Corps volunteers were requesting a degree in Teaching English as a Second Language, a new specialty.

In 1969, two graduate programs were developed, International Career Training (ICT), and Masters in Teaching Languages (MAT) (French, Spanish and ESL).

Eventually, the ICT program changed to PIM: Programs in Intercultural Management and developed specializations in NGS's and Civil Society, Peace and Conflict Transformation, Social Justice, Socially Responsible Management, Sustainable Development, International Education, Language and Culture, Teacher Preparation.

Wangari Maathai, former Trustee Emerita, won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on sustainable development and democracy in Kenya.

This project resulted in research in schools in New England focusing on reflective teaching, mentoring and structured language immersion.

IHP programs typically spend the semester traveling to three different continents while focusing on a central academic theme that falls within the aforementioned critical global issues.

In addition, SIT grants graduate certificates in International Education and peacebuilding (via a summer program called Conflict Transformation Across Cultures, or CONTACT).

In prior years, degree programs were largely delivered in-person on the SIT campus in Brattleboro, Vermont or in the World Learning center in Washington, DC.