[3][4] Its programs are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

1, a decommissioned World War II-era United States Army Air Forces base, which served as its campus for more than 70 years.

The American Institute for Foreign Trade was founded by Lt. Gen. Barton Kyle Yount, a US Army Air Forces (AAF) officer who purchased the former Thunderbird Field from the War Assets Administration for one dollar, subject to the condition that the property be used for educational purposes for a minimum of 10 years.

Over the next six months, Yount and Dunne (Thompson having departed the project) prepared the Glendale location, arranged financing, remodeled the physical plant (which included several airplane hangars and a control tower), and recruited faculty and students.

Course offerings soon expanded to include French language and Western European and "Far Eastern" area studies.

In 1951, Thunderbird began granting the Bachelor of Foreign Trade to students who already possessed undergraduate degrees, or at least three years of coursework, while the others continued to be awarded certificates.

In 1953, the school logo (which had been affixed to several repurposed aircraft hangars) allegedly inspired the name of the U.S. Air Force demonstration flight team, the Thunderbirds.

In 1965, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded the school the President's "E" Certificate for Export Service (later upgraded to an "E-star" ranking).

[10] Under the presidency of Arthur L. Peterson (served 1966-69), Thunderbird received regional accreditation; the size of the student body doubled (to 503 in 1967); and several significant building projects were undertaken, including a library.

Thunderbird's relative poverty, and lack of affiliation with a full-fledged university, proved significant disadvantages, even as interest in business education skyrocketed during the Reagan administration.

This trend was exacerbated by the September 11 attacks, which led to stricter visa rules for foreign students;[13] by the decline in the popularity of MBA study during the dot-com bubble; and by the Great Recession.

[23] The following year, the school announced a planned partnership with Laureate Education, Inc.[24] As part of the planned partnership, Thunderbird would remain a nonprofit organization, exempt from income tax as a 501(c)(3),[24][25] but would establish a joint educational service company with Laureate, a for-profit company.

[24][29] A number of Thunderbird alumni, and several board members, opposed the proposed partnership on the grounds that it would harm the school's reputation,[25][26][27] and circulated a petition in protest.

[25][27][29] Since Thunderbird was then in an advanced state of financial exigency, attention naturally focused on acquisition by ASU, which expressed willingness to proceed.

Negotiations with ASU president Michael M. Crow concluded within months, with the new plan winning swift approval from both boards as well as the Higher Learning Commission.

Since its acquisition by ASU, Thunderbird has revived the undergraduate program (the Bachelor of Global Management; its students are called "Underbirds"), phased out the MBA (which the Carey School already offered), and introduced the Master of Global Management, a non-MBA graduate degree with a number of formal concentrations.

The building, named the Thunderbird Activity Center by the school, had been used for special events and exams, but was determined to no longer meet safety standards following an inspection of the campus.

[48] Thunderbird also has satellite Centers for Excellence in Dubai, UAE; Geneva, Switzerland; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Tokyo, Japan, among several others.

The goal is for the headquarters to function as a digital and physical space that will connect the school's global network of 45,000 alumni with students, faculty, and staff.

Other buildings on the original campus included the International Business Information Centre (IBIC), which was Thunderbird's library, and a dining hall for students.

[17] On December 12, 2017 ASU announced that Thunderbird's historical campus will be closed and the school will be moved to a facility in downtown Phoenix.

[50] ASU and Thunderbird are covering the remaining cost of the $75 million facility using funds from fundraising, including the old Glendale campus and another parcel in nearby Scottsdale.