Texas Health and Science University was founded as the Texas Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1990, a single-purpose institution for the training of acupuncturists. Texas passed legislation creating the Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners in 1993, and the school was approved by the Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners. Candidacy for accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) was achieved in 1994, the school was accredited in 1996, and has been re-accredited continuously to the present. ACAOM is a specialized accreditor with both institutional and programmatic scope. In 1997, the school was granted authority by the Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners to award the Master of Science in Oriental Medicine degree and changed its name to Texas College of Traditional Chinese Medicine to reflect this change.