The courses were held at the Descartes high school during the summer holidays. Owing to the success of this operation, it soon became necessary to organize them in a professional manner.

In 1912, the association called "Institut d'Etudes Françaises de Touraine" was founded. Mr Sourdillon became the head master. The school was then administratively attached to Poitiers University. From that point onwards, the establishment offered courses during the school year as well as the summer courses.

The First World War interrupted the courses, which resumed in 1919.

In 1924, the Tours town council purchased Hôtel Torterue for Institut de Touraine. The school still occupies this beautiful mansion dating from the Second Empire.

The number of students grew rapidly in the interwar period. Over 800 students attended the Institute every year in the late 1930s.

The Second World War forced the establishment to close.

Immediately after the war, the Institute started taking in students from American universities. This tradition lives on today with fifteen or so colleges.

In 1973 Institut de Touraine was placed under the academic authority of the newly created Tours University.

Student numbers continued to grow thanks to the establishment's excellent reputation.

In 2006, the school's board of directors finalized a new development plan, which among other things included extensive renovation of the teaching facilities and a greater presence abroad.