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.
In April 2005,
the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board granted a Certificate of Authority to the institution to award the degree of Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine degree with a major in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. In April 2007, the campus clinic was expanded.
With the intent of broadening the school’s mission to include business programs, the institution applied to and received institutional accreditation by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) in 2012. Texas Health and Science University launched a hybrid online MBA program in January 2021. Institutional accreditation in good standing with ACICS has been maintained to the present. Programmatic accreditation for the acupuncture program is maintained through ACAOM.
In 2014
an additional location in San Antonio was established. Located at the University of Incarnate Word Saidoff Center, the main entrance houses the administration, library, and student and professional clinics. Classrooms are held in the adjacent UIW campus building, which is home to UIW’s physical therapy program. THSU students have access to the UIW library and the THSU-Austin library.
