Adopting the principle of 'Non scholae, sed vitae discimus' (learning not for school but for life), İstanbul Bilgi University took its place within the Turkish system of higher education as a civil corporation after the application made by the BİLGİ Education and Culture Foundation on 7 June 1996 and the subsequent approval by the Turkish Grand National Assembly according to Law number 4142.
BİLGİ is one of the first foundation universities of Turkey. In the past fifteen years, BİLGİ became a deep-rooted university with its own traditions and the notion of absolute academic freedom has become a major part of our institution culture. Intellectuals of Turkey have gathered here around this culture; therefore, we have established a philosophical ground on which every societal issue is handled with courage.