The Graduate Institute was established with the mission of offering exciting graduate programs in emerging fields of academic inquiry. The Connecticut Board of Governors of Higher Education granted The Graduate Institute's license to operate graduate programs in 1999.

The institution is a free-standing, not-for-profit organization with a dedicated Board of Trustees. The Graduate Institute was accredited by the Connecticut Department of Higher Education in 2003, and it was chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 2005.

The Graduate Institute offers Master of Arts programs in:

• Conscious Evolution 
   
• Experiential Health and Healing 
   
• Holistic Thinking 
   
• Irenic Studies 
   
• Oral Traditions 
   
• Organizational Leadership 

The Institute serves mature, lifelong learners in their pursuit of personal transformation and professional development. Students, who are referred to as "colleagues", take an active role in the learning process as well as in those of the cohort community.

At The Graduate Institute, academic rigor and the pursuit of knowledge are vital to the development of the whole person. Community learning provides the basis for shared understanding and construction of knowledge.

Our Faculty are dedicated scholars who move their fields of academic study forward. They facilitate learning through dialogue, seminars, experiential exercises, online communication, and guidance of internships, mentorships, and culminating projects.

The Graduate Institute is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity organization. The Graduate Institute does not discriminate in any relationship practices on the basis of age, ancestry, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, creed, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, affectional preference, marital or family status, socio-economic status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, political beliefs, physical handicap, developmental disability, HIV infection, AIDS-related complex, AIDS, or any other legally protected characteristic. It does not discriminate in its education programs or in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs or activities. The Graduate Institute is governed by, and conforms to the regulations and policies articulated in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.