CIEFL was established in Hyderabad in 1958 as Central Institute of English as an autonomous institution by the Government of India. In 1972 it was renamed as CIEFL and its purview was increased to include foreign languages, and was recognised as a deemed University in 1973. Two branches of CIEFL are in Shillong and Lucknow. CIEFL has facilities to teach 2000 students for various P.G., M. Phil, and Ph.D., courses in English and foreign languages like Arabic, French, German, Spanish and Russian. The Educational Media Research Center of this institute provides video and audio English lessons through radio and TV. This institute also provides short term and long term correspondense courses.