Tianjin Normal University (TNU), founded in 1958, was originally named Tianjin Teachers College and was named as Tianjin Normal University in June 1982. In April 1999, with the approval by the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Municipal Committee of the CPC and Tianjin Municipal Government decided to found the new Tianjin Normal University by integrating the old Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin Teachers' Training Academy, and Tianjin Educational Institute. Approaved by Tianjin Municipal Government in March 2003, the construction project of the new campus of TNU was officially initiated. TNU now has 23 colleges, 1 independent college, 49 research institutes, and 87 specialties for undergraduates (including 56 specialties for 4-year students and 31 for 2-year students). Offering programs at various levels and in many disciplines, the university has developed a unique system of education, with a series of pre- and in – service training courses and different levels of education for different purposes: for academic degrees, for diplomas or simply for training. The programs offered have already covered 8 of the 11 academic disciplines for undergraduates. TNU also boasts the "Psychology and Behavior Research Center", one of the one hundred major humanities and social sciences research centers under the Ministry of Education, Tianjin research lab of modern Pedagogical techniques, a key lab of water environment and water resources and a research center for politics and humanistic social science. It also has an affiliated middle school and an affiliated primary school.