Founded in 1953, Beijing Institute of Education (BIE) is one of Beijing's major institutions of higher learning for adults. BIE undertakes primarily junior college and undergraduate courses covering 58 specialties. It also provides in-service training for primary and secondary school teachers and administrators. There are 18 departments in BIE, including Chinese Language, Foreign Languages, Art, History, Psychology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Physical Culture, Educational Technology, Educational Administration, Vocational Education, and International Students' Department (ISD). BIE has 107 professors, associate professors and 150 lecturers as well as 92 guest or part-time professors from universities at home or from abroad. More than 6000 trainees are currently studying at BIE.
    
Located in Xicheng District in Beijing City, BIE enjoys an advantageous geographical position. It has advanced teaching and research facilities such as computer network (has been linked up with Internet), multimedia application, audio-visual facilities, library resources, psychology service etc.

BIE is an associated center of APEID (the Asia and Pacific Programs of Educational Innovation for Development), a member club of UNESCO in Beijing, a research center of Chinese population education sponsored by United Nations Population Fund and a project school receiving funding from World Bank. Attaching great importance to international exchanges, BIE, in recent years, has developed a wide range of academic exchange and cooperative programs with educational institutions of many countries such as the USA, the UK, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Russia etc.; it has hosted visits by educators and scholars from more than 20 countries; it has invited foreign lecturers and professors to the Institute to be engaged in or facilitate the teaching and research activities; it has also received international students from many countries to study Chinese language and culture.

The International Students' Department (ISD) is a teaching and research unit specially established by BIE for foreigners to study Chinese language and culture. ISD is located in BIE's Western Campus where the public transport facilities are very convenient. It has an excellent faculty of 6 professors and associate professors, 15 lecturers and other teaching staff, who concentrate on quality classroom instruction and individualized attention whenever it is needed. It has modern teaching facilities such as language labs, computer rooms, library etc. and other facilities like sports room, dormitory, dinning-hall, medical clinic and so on. Its various teaching programs aim at meeting the higher education needs of international students and Chinese students from overseas and helping them learn Chinese language and culture.