The National Institute of Development Administration was established in 1966 with assistance from the Ford Foundation and the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities.
The university has schools of public administration, business administration, development economics, applied statistics, social development and management strategy, language and communications, human resource development, law, tourism management, environmental development administration and communication, arts and management innovation.
All of its programmes, including the MBA which was the first to be offered in Thailand, are taught in English. International students given accommodation in the apartment block on its campus at Bagkapi.
The university has around a dozen research centres include those focussing on Service and Tourism Research, Quality of Life and Community Health, Aging Society and Smart City Development.
