1995: Approved by the former Jilin Provincial Education Commission, the school(JISU) was established as Jilin Huaqiao Foreign Language Institute, a higher education training school.
1996: Construction of school buildings commenced, marking the initial establishment of the school.
1997: Achieved outstanding results in self-study examinations, ranking among the top of similar institutions in the province.
1998: Designated as a pilot unit for the national higher education academic diploma examination.
1999: Approved by the Ministry of Education, the school was renamed Jilin Huaqiao Vocational College of Foreign Languages and incorporated into the national general higher education enrollment plan.
2000: The scale of the school expanded once again, with the student population increasing to more than ten times that of its founding.
2001: Acquired over 550 acres of land in the Jingyue Tourism Development Zone, preparing for the construction of a new campus.
2002: In September, the first phase of the new campus construction was completed, and the school successfully relocated to the new campus. At the end of October, it underwent evaluation by the expert group of the National Higher Education Institution Setting and Evaluation Committee.
2003: Approved by the Ministry of Education, the school was officially upgraded to an undergraduate college, establishing “Jilin Huaqiao Institute of Foreign Languages,”becoming the first private undergraduate foreign language institute in Jilin Province. In the same year, it was awarded the title of “Top 20 Comprehensive Strength of Private Universities in China.”
2004: Enrolled students in the second batch of undergraduate programs in provinces such as Jilin and Heilongjiang. The graduate employment rate reached 98.2%, ranking first in the province. The student population reached 5,076, with a campus area of 760,000 square meters and a construction area of 180,000 square meters.
2005: Granted the right to confer bachelor's degrees and began jointly enrolling postgraduate students. Enrolled students in the second batch of undergraduate programs in multiple provinces across the country, admitting students based on the national admission score line. The graduate employment rate reached 99.4%, still ranking first in the province. The student population exceeded 6,000.
2006: Enrolled students from 24 provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government). The number of undergraduate and associate degree programs reached 37. In the same year, it was awarded the titles of “Top 20 Teaching Quality of Private Higher Education Institutions” and “Top 10 Credible Private Universities in China.” Ranked third in the “2006 China Private University Evaluation Report”.
2007: Approved by the provincial government, it was designated as a key higher education institution in Jilin Province.
2010: Approved by the State Council, the school's“Exploring the Non-profit Private University Model” was approved as a national pilot project of education system reform. Successfully passed the Ministry of Education's undergraduate teaching work qualification evaluation and investigation.
2011: The school’s Research Center for Applied Foreign Language Talent Training was approved as a key research base for humanities and social sciences in Jilin Province's 12th Five-Year Plan.
2011: Approved by the Ministry of Education as a pilot unit for cultivating professional degree postgraduate students.
2015: President Qin He, representing the education sector, delivered a speech at the third plenary meeting of the third session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
2016: Listed in the national midwestern university basic capacity building projects (the second phase). Approved as a “Confucius Institute Scholarship” enrollment qualification institution.
2017: The school's master degree granting unit and five new master degree authorization points were approved by the state. Approved by Jilin Province as a doctoral program establishment unit.
2018: Approved by the Ministry of Education, the school was renamed Jilin International Studies University.
2020: Listed in the Jilin Province High-level Application-oriented University Construction Projects with Distinctive Features (Category A).
2022: Listed in the Jilin Province Doctoral Degree Granting Unit Construction Projects (Category A).
2024: Accredited as a doctoral degree cultivation unit (Category A+) (2024-2026) by Jilin Provincial Academic Degrees Committee.
