From IUBH to IU: why it was time to change

IU might be Europe’s largest university today, but it started out as a much smaller college – which had a different name. How it evolved and why it changed are relevant to what we offer. 

A brand is about more than just the name of a company or an organisation. It tells people what its vision is, what its values are and how it can positively influence their lives. 

Apple is estimated to be the first trillion dollar brand. Google and Microsoft are worth over $700 billion[1]. All have a simple brand proposition of helping you live life better. 

That is part of the reason why you won’t see the name IUBH anymore. Instead, IUBH has evolved into IU – a name that helps us to focus on providing a feel-good future for everyone. And as part of that, it also helps us show you that we aren’t just a German education organisation anymore. We are here for success-oriented people around the world. 

What became IU started life under the much longer name of the Internationale Fachhoschule Bad Honnef / Bonn way back in 1998. There were just 23 students enrolled in our first year and they were studying in a single building. Since then, it’s grown and changed its identity a number of times, but kept its roots in the historic spa town of Bad Honnef.

It is Bad Honnef who gave it the ‘BH’ initials in its name when it became IUBH in 2011. This was also the year we began embracing innovative educational approaches, starting with a small group of 42 students. Recognizing the growing importance and potential of flexible learning models, we expanded our offerings to include a comprehensive blended learning format. This shift allowed for a more integrated and enriching student experience, which led us to revisit our name and brand identity in 2021.

The end result was that IUBH became IU International University of Applied Sciences.

Why? Well, we still have our roots in Bad Honnef. If you do a MyStudies degree, the teaching is in English, but you can choose to study here and come and see us on Mulheimer Strasse. But we’ve expanded far beyond a single town.

MyStudies students can now study at our Berlin campus by taking the U-Bahn down Samariterstrasse stop and heading down Frankfurter Allee. If you study in German, you have an even broader choice of locations, with 200 campuses across cities from Hamburg to Hannover and even more set to open.

This is because we are the largest university in Germany in terms of registered students alone, but the story doesn’t end there.

There are now over 130,000 students enrolled in our courses, with thousands of them benefiting from our innovative blended learning model. This approach marries the flexibility of independent online study with the invaluable experience of in-person learning.

This means that while Bad Honnef is still our spiritual home, we continue to expand our reach and enhance our offerings without losing touch with the tradition of personal interaction and vibrant campus life.

In just two and a half decades, IU has become exactly what its brand says it is: an international university that accepts students wherever they are from and whatever their background is.

Whether students are traveling from overseas to study in Berlin or Bad Honnef, or combining on-campus tutorials with digital learning tools, we want to provide them with the most personal education to help them realize their goals.

That makes our brand both a description, and a promise.

At IU, that brand lets you know you are studying at a university which has a truly international outlook. Education has no borders, and neither do we. And because everyone has a right to a future in which they can grow, develop and make their dreams a reality, we will continue to find new ways to get students around the world interested in the possibilities we offer.

The IUBH brand might have been retired, but whether you’re a Big Hoper, you Believe in Happiness, you’re a future-focussed Border Hopper, or you’re doing it the original way and studying in Bad Honnef, maybe those initials still have something to say.