The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund has not experienced portfolio turnover as of the date of this Prospectus because the Fund is newly operational.

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses, before expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreement will remain in place through December 31, 2012 but that there will be no waiver or expense reimbursement agreement in effect thereafter. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund is a “fund of funds” that invests in Institutional Class shares of other funds of TIAA-CREF Funds and potentially in other investment pools or investment products (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”). The Fund is designed for investors seeking current income with some capital appreciation through a relatively stable asset allocation strategy targeting an income-oriented and conservative risk-return profile. The Fund will generally seek to meet its investment objective by investing: (1) approximately 20% of its assets in equity Underlying Funds and (2) approximately 80% of its assets in fixed-income Underlying Funds. The Fund may deviate from these target allocations by up to 10% depending upon current market conditions and outlook.

The Underlying Fund allocation targets generally represent targets for investments in equity and fixed-income asset classes. Within the equity and fixed-income asset classes, the Fund allocates its investments to particular market sectors (which may include U.S. equity, international equity, fixed-income and short-term fixed-income) represented by various Underlying Funds. To maintain an appropriate allocation among the Underlying Funds, the portfolio managers monitor the foreign and domestic equity markets, as well as overall financial and economic conditions. The Fund might sometimes be more heavily weighted toward equities or fixed-income than otherwise targeted, if the portfolio managers believe market conditions warrant. For example, the Fund might increase its holdings in fixed-income Underlying Funds in periods when the portfolio managers believe the equity markets will decline. The market sector allocations and Underlying Fund allocations may also be changed over time by the portfolio managers, including the addition and removal of market sectors and Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests in light of the Fund’s desired level of risk and potential return at a particular time as evaluated by the portfolio managers based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative factors. The portfolio managers may also opportunistically purchase other TIAA-CREF Funds or other investment pools or investment products, based on the portfolio managers’ evaluation of the market sectors and/or Underlying Funds without prior notice to shareholders.

As a result of its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Fund’s returns will reflect investments in a mix of domestic and foreign equities of companies of various sizes and a variety of domestic and foreign fixed-income instruments of private and governmental issuers of varying maturities and credit qualities.

As part of the Fund’s ability to invest in unaffiliated investment products or pools noted above, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) to gain exposure to various market sectors or securities in order to effect its asset allocation strategy. Additionally, the Fund may use ETFs and ETNs for cash management, hedging or defensive purposes. ETFs and ETNs will be subject to the risks associated with the types of securities or sectors that they track, while ETNs, which are structured as fixed-income obligations, will also be subject to the general risks of fixed-income securities, including credit risk.

The Fund’s targeted asset class allocations, market sector allocations within each asset class, and Underlying Fund allocations within each market sector as of December 9, 2011, are listed in the chart below. Actual allocations may differ and targeted allocations may change at any time.


Asset Class	Allocation	Market Sector	Allocation	Underlying Funds	Allocation
EQUITY	20%	U.S. Equity	14%	· Large-Cap Growth Fund	3.5%
				· Large-Cap Value Fund	3.4%
				· Growth & Income Fund	2.9%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Growth Index Fund	1.3%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Value Index Fund	1.3%
				· Small-Cap Equity Fund	1.1%
				· Mid-Cap Growth Fund	0.3%
				· Mid-Cap Value Fund	0.2%
		International Equity	6%	· International Equity Fund	2.7%
				· Enhanced International Equity Index Fund	1.8%
				· Emerging Markets Equity Fund	1.5%
FIXED-INCOME	80%	Fixed-Income	40%	· Bond Plus Fund	20.0%
FIXED-INCOME	80%	Fixed-Income	40%	· Bond Fund	20.0%
		Short-Term Fixed-Income	40%	· Short-Term Bond Fund	40.0%
Total	100%	100%		100.0%

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:

· Asset Allocation Risk—The risk that the Fund may not achieve its target allocations. In addition, there is the risk that the asset allocations may not achieve the desired risk-return characteristic or that the selection of Underlying Funds and the allocations among them will result in the Fund underperforming other similar funds or cause an investor to lose money.

· Fund of Funds Risk—The Fund is exposed to the risks of the Underlying Funds in which it invests in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund allocates to each Underlying Fund. Because the Fund targets its investments in a higher percentage of fixed-income Underlying Funds, Fixed-Income Underlying Fund Risks are expected to predominate.

· Fixed-Income Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in fixed-income Underlying Funds include credit risk, interest rate risk, and market volatility, liquidity and valuation risk, among others.

· Equity Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in equity Underlying Funds include risks specific to their strategies, such as style risk, capitalization risk, and foreign investment risk, among others, as well as risks related to the equity markets in general.

· Active Management Risk—The risk that the strategy, investment selection or trading execution of Advisors could cause the Fund to underperform its benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

· Underlying Fund Risk—The ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective will depend in part upon the ability of the Underlying Funds to achieve their investment objectives. There can be no guarantee that any Underlying Fund will achieve its investment objective.

Risk Lose Money [Text]

rr_RiskLoseMoney

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund.

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

Performance information is not available for the Fund because the Fund is newly operational. Once the Fund has completed one calendar year of operations, its performance information will become available.

For current performance information of each share class, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.tiaa-cref.org.

Performance Availability Website Address [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.tiaa-cref.org

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.10%

Other Expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.83%

^[1]

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.54%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.85%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

419

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.10%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

^[1],[2]

Waivers and Expense Reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.70%)

^[3]

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

73

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)

rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther

none

Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)

rr_MaximumAccountFee

none

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

^[1],[2]

Waivers and Expense Reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.71%)

^[3]

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

62

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)

rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther

none

Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)

rr_MaximumAccountFee

none

Other Expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.71%

^[1]

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.17%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.46%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

301

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

Expense [Heading]

rr_ExpenseHeading

FEES AND EXPENSES

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (deducted directly from gross amount of transaction)

Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination

2012-12-31

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund has not experienced portfolio turnover as of the date of this Prospectus because the Fund is newly operational.

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses, before expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreement will remain in place through December 31, 2012 but that there will be no waiver or expense reimbursement agreement in effect thereafter. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund is a “fund of funds” that invests in Institutional Class shares of other funds of TIAA-CREF Funds and potentially in other investment pools or investment products (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”). The Fund is designed for investors seeking long-term total return, consisting of current income and capital appreciation, through a relatively stable asset allocation strategy targeting a conservative risk-return profile. The Fund will generally seek to meet its investment objective by investing: (1) approximately 40% of its assets in equity Underlying Funds and (2) approximately 60% of its assets in fixed-income Underlying Funds. The Fund may deviate from these target allocations by up to 10% depending upon current market conditions and outlook.

The Underlying Fund allocation targets generally represent targets for investments in equity and fixed-income asset classes. Within the equity and fixed-income asset classes, the Fund allocates its investments to particular market sectors (which may include U.S. equity, international equity, fixed-income and short-term fixed-income) represented by various Underlying Funds. To maintain an appropriate allocation among the Underlying Funds, the portfolio managers monitor the foreign and domestic equity markets, as well as overall financial and economic conditions. The Fund might sometimes be more heavily weighted toward equities or fixed-income than otherwise targeted, if the portfolio managers believe market conditions warrant. For example, the Fund might increase its holdings in fixed-income Underlying Funds in periods when the portfolio managers believe the equity markets will decline. The market sector allocations and Underlying Fund allocations may also be changed over time by the portfolio managers, including the addition and removal of market sectors and Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests in light of the Fund’s desired level of risk and potential return at a particular time as evaluated by the portfolio managers based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative factors. The portfolio managers may also opportunistically purchase other TIAA-CREF Funds or other investment pools or investment products, based on the portfolio managers’ evaluation of the market sectors and/or Underlying Funds without prior notice to shareholders.

As a result of its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Fund’s returns will reflect investments in a mix of domestic and foreign equities of companies of various sizes and a variety of domestic and foreign fixed-income instruments of private and governmental issuers of varying maturities and credit qualities.

As part of the Fund’s ability to invest in unaffiliated investment products or pools noted above, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) to gain exposure to various market sectors or securities in order to effect its asset allocation strategy. Additionally, the Fund may use ETFs and ETNs for cash management, hedging or defensive purposes. ETFs and ETNs will be subject to the risks associated with the types of securities or sectors that they track, while ETNs, which are structured as fixed-income obligations, will also be subject to the general risks of fixed-income securities, including credit risk.

The Fund’s targeted asset class allocations, market sector allocations within each asset class, and Underlying Fund allocations within each market sector as of December 9, 2011, are listed in the chart below. Actual allocations may differ and targeted allocations may change at any time.


Asset Class	Allocation	Market Sector	Allocation	Underlying Funds	Allocation
EQUITY	40%	U.S. Equity	28%	· Large-Cap Growth Fund	7.0%
				· Large-Cap Value Fund	6.8%
				· Growth & Income	5.9%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Growth Index Fund	2.6%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Value Index Fund	2.5%
				· Small-Cap Equity Fund	2.2%
				· Mid-Cap Growth Fund	0.5%
				· Mid-Cap Value Fund	0.5%
		International Equity	12%	· International Equity Fund	5.4%
				· Enhanced International Equity Index Fund	3.6%
				· Emerging Markets Equity Fund	3.0%
FIXED-INCOME	60%	Fixed-Income	40%	· Bond Plus Fund	30.0%
				· Bond Fund	10.0%
		Short-Term Fixed-Income	20%	· Short-Term Bond Fund	20.0%
Total	100%	100%		100.0%

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:

· Asset Allocation Risk—The risk that the Fund may not achieve its target allocations. In addition, there is the risk that the asset allocations may not achieve the desired risk-return characteristic or that the selection of Underlying Funds and the allocations among them will result in the Fund underperforming other similar funds or cause an investor to lose money.

· Fund of Funds Risk—The Fund is exposed to the risks of the Underlying Funds in which it invests in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund allocates to each Underlying Fund.

· Fixed-Income Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in fixed-income Underlying Funds include credit risk, interest rate risk, and market volatility, liquidity and valuation risk, among others.

· Equity Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in equity Underlying Funds include risks specific to their strategies, such as style risk, capitalization risk, and foreign investment risk, among others, as well as risks related to the equity markets in general.

· Active Management Risk—The risk that the strategy, investment selection or trading execution of Advisors could cause the Fund to underperform its benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

· Underlying Fund Risk—The ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective will depend in part upon the ability of the Underlying Funds to achieve their investment objectives. There can be no guarantee that any Underlying Fund will achieve its investment objective.

Risk Lose Money [Text]

rr_RiskLoseMoney

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund.

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

Performance information is not available for the Fund because the Fund is newly operational. Once the Fund has completed one calendar year of operations, its performance information will become available.

For current performance information of each share class, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.tiaa-cref.org.

Performance Availability Website Address [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.tiaa-cref.org

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.10%

Other Expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.68%

^[1]

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.43%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.89%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

399

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.10%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets

0.40%

^[1],[2]

Waivers and Expense Reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.54%)

^[3]

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

77

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)

rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther

none

Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)

rr_MaximumAccountFee

none

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets

0.40%

^[1],[2]

Waivers and Expense Reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.55%)

^[3]

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

66

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)

rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther

none

Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)

rr_MaximumAccountFee

none

Other Expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

^[1]

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.05%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.50%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

279

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

Expense [Heading]

rr_ExpenseHeading

FEES AND EXPENSES

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (deducted directly from gross amount of transaction)

Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination

2012-12-31

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund has not experienced portfolio turnover as of the date of this Prospectus because the Fund is newly operational.

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses, before expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreement will remain in place through December 31, 2012 but that there will be no waiver or expense reimbursement agreement in effect thereafter. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund is a “fund of funds” that invests in Institutional Class shares of other funds of TIAA-CREF Funds and potentially in other investment pools or investment products (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”). The Fund is designed for investors seeking long-term total return, consisting of capital appreciation and current income, through a relatively stable asset allocation strategy targeting a moderate risk-return profile. The Fund will generally seek to meet its investment objective by investing: (1) approximately 60% of its assets in equity Underlying Funds and (2) approximately 40% of its assets in fixed-income Underlying Funds. The Fund may deviate from these target allocations by up to 10% depending upon current market conditions and outlook.

The Underlying Fund allocation targets generally represent targets for investments in equity and fixed-income asset classes. Within the equity and fixed-income asset classes, the Fund allocates its investments to particular market sectors (which may include U.S. equity, international equity, fixed-income and short-term fixed-income) represented by various Underlying Funds. To maintain an appropriate allocation among the Underlying Funds, the portfolio managers monitor the foreign and domestic equity markets, as well as overall financial and economic conditions. The Fund might sometimes be more heavily weighted toward equities or fixed-income than otherwise targeted, if the portfolio managers believe market conditions warrant. For example, the Fund might increase its holdings in fixed-income Underlying Funds in periods when the portfolio managers believe the equity markets will decline. The market sector allocations and Underlying Fund allocations may also be changed over time by the portfolio managers, including the addition and removal of market sectors and Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests in light of the Fund’s desired level of risk and potential return at a particular time as evaluated by the portfolio managers based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative factors. The portfolio managers may also opportunistically purchase other TIAA-CREF Funds or other investment pools or investment products, based on the portfolio managers’ evaluation of the market sectors and/or Underlying Funds without prior notice to shareholders.

As a result of its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Fund’s returns will reflect investments in a mix of domestic and foreign equities of companies of various sizes and a variety of domestic and foreign fixed-income instruments of private and governmental issuers of varying maturities and credit qualities.

As part of the Fund’s ability to invest in unaffiliated investment products or pools noted above, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) to gain exposure to various market sectors or securities in order to effect its asset allocation strategy. Additionally, the Fund may use ETFs and ETNs for cash management, hedging or defensive purposes. ETFs and ETNs will be subject to the risks associated with the types of securities or sectors that they track, while ETNs, which are structured as fixed-income obligations, will also be subject to the general risks of fixed-income securities, including credit risk.

The Fund’s targeted asset class allocations, market sector allocations within each asset class, and Underlying Fund allocations within each market sector as of December 9, 2011, are listed in the chart below. Actual allocations may differ and targeted allocations may change at any time.


Asset Class	Allocation	Market Sector	Allocation	Underlying Funds	Allocation
EQUITY	60%	U.S. Equity	42%	· Large-Cap Growth Fund	10.5%
				· Large-Cap Value Fund	10.2%
				· Growth & Income Fund	8.7%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Growth Index Fund	3.9%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Value Index Fund	3.8%
				· Small-Cap Equity Fund	3.3%
				· Mid-Cap Growth Fund	0.8%
				· Mid-Cap Value Fund	0.8%
		International Equity	18%	· International Equity Fund	8.0%
				· Enhanced International Equity Index Fund	5.4%
				· Emerging Markets Equity Fund	4.6%
FIXED-INCOME	40%	Fixed-Income	40%	· Bond Plus Fund	40.0%
				· Bond Fund	0.0%
		Short-Term Fixed-Income	0%	· Short-Term Bond Fund	0.0%
Total	100%	100%		100.0%

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:

· Asset Allocation Risk—The risk that the Fund may not achieve its target allocations. In addition, there is the risk that the asset allocations may not achieve the desired risk-return characteristic or that the selection of Underlying Funds and the allocations among them will result in the Fund underperforming other similar funds or cause an investor to lose money.

· Fund of Funds Risk—The Fund is exposed to the risks of the Underlying Funds in which it invests in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund allocates to each Underlying Fund.

· Equity Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in equity Underlying Funds include risks specific to their strategies, such as style risk, capitalization risk, and foreign investment risk, among others, as well as risks related to the equity markets in general.

· Fixed-Income Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in fixed-income Underlying Funds include credit risk, interest rate risk, and market volatility, liquidity and valuation risk, among others.

· Active Management Risk—The risk that the strategy, investment selection or trading execution of Advisors could cause the Fund to underperform its benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

· Underlying Fund Risk—The ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective will depend in part upon the ability of the Underlying Funds to achieve their investment objectives. There can be no guarantee that any Underlying Fund will achieve its investment objective.

Risk Lose Money [Text]

rr_RiskLoseMoney

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund.

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

Performance information is not available for the Fund because the Fund is newly operational. Once the Fund has completed one calendar year of operations, its performance information will become available.

For current performance information of each share class, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.tiaa-cref.org.

Performance Availability Website Address [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.tiaa-cref.org

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.10%

Other Expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.57%

^[1]

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.37%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.94%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

391

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.10%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets

0.45%

^[1],[2]

Waivers and Expense Reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.43%)

^[3]

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

82

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)

rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther

none

Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)

rr_MaximumAccountFee

none

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets

0.45%

^[1],[2]

Waivers and Expense Reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.44%)

^[3]

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

72

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)

rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther

none

Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)

rr_MaximumAccountFee

none

Other Expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.44%

^[1]

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.99%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

271

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

Expense [Heading]

rr_ExpenseHeading

FEES AND EXPENSES

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (deducted directly from gross amount of transaction)

Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination

2012-12-31

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund has not experienced portfolio turnover as of the date of this Prospectus because the Fund is newly operational.

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses, before expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreement will remain in place through December 31, 2012 but that there will be no waiver or expense reimbursement agreement in effect thereafter. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund is a “fund of funds” that invests in Institutional Class shares of other funds of TIAA-CREF Funds and potentially in other investment pools or investment products (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”). The Fund is designed for investors seeking long-term growth of capital with some current income through a relatively stable asset allocation strategy targeting a growth-oriented risk-return profile. The Fund will generally seek to meet its investment objective by investing: (1) approximately 80% of its assets in equity Underlying Funds and (2) approximately 20% of its assets in fixed-income Underlying Funds. The Fund may deviate from these target allocations by up to 10% depending upon current market conditions and outlook.

The Underlying Fund allocation targets generally represent targets for investments in equity and fixed-income asset classes. Within the equity and fixed-income asset classes, the Fund allocates its investments to particular market sectors (which may include U.S. equity, international equity, fixed-income and short-term fixed-income) represented by various Underlying Funds. To maintain an appropriate allocation among the Underlying Funds, the portfolio managers monitor the foreign and domestic equity markets, as well as overall financial and economic conditions. The Fund might sometimes be more heavily weighted toward equities or fixed-income than otherwise targeted, if the portfolio managers believe market conditions warrant. For example, the Fund might increase its holdings in fixed-income Underlying Funds in periods when the portfolio managers believe the equity markets will decline. The market sector allocations and Underlying Fund allocations may also be changed over time by the portfolio managers, including the addition and removal of market sectors and Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests in light of the Fund’s desired level of risk and potential return at a particular time as evaluated by the portfolio managers based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative factors. The portfolio managers may also opportunistically purchase other TIAA-CREF Funds or other investment pools or investment products, based on the portfolio managers’ evaluation of the market sectors and/or Underlying Funds without prior notice to shareholders.

As a result of its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Fund’s returns will reflect investments in a mix of domestic and foreign equities of companies of various sizes and a variety of domestic and foreign fixed-income instruments of private and governmental issuers of varying maturities and credit qualities.

As part of the Fund’s ability to invest in unaffiliated investment products or pools noted above, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) to gain exposure to various market sectors or securities in order to effect its asset allocation strategy. Additionally, the Fund may use ETFs and ETNs for cash management, hedging or defensive purposes. ETFs and ETNs will be subject to the risks associated with the types of securities or sectors that they track, while ETNs, which are structured as fixed-income obligations, will also be subject to the general risks of fixed-income securities, including credit risk.

The Fund’s targeted asset class allocations, market sector allocations within each asset class, and Underlying Fund allocations within each market sector as of December 9, 2011, are listed in the chart below. Actual allocations may differ and targeted allocations may change at any time.


Asset Class	Allocation	Market Sector	Allocation	Underlying Funds	Allocation
EQUITY	80%	U.S. Equity	56%	· Large-Cap Growth Fund	13.9%
				· Large-Cap Value Fund	13.6%
				· Growth & Income Fund	11.7%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Growth Index Fund	5.2%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Value Index Fund	5.1%
				· Small-Cap Equity Fund	4.5%
				· Mid-Cap Growth Fund	1.0%
				· Mid-Cap Value Fund	1.0%
		International Equity	24%	· International Equity Fund	10.7%
				· Enhanced International Equity Index Fund	7.2%
				· Emerging Markets Equity Fund	6.1%
FIXED-INCOME	20%	Fixed-Income	20%	· Bond Plus Fund	20.0%
				· Bond Fund	0.0%
		Short-Term Fixed-Income	0%	· Short-Term Bond Fund		0.0%
Total	100%	100%		100.0%

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:

· Asset Allocation Risk—The risk that the Fund may not achieve its target allocations. In addition, there is the risk that the asset allocations may not achieve the desired risk-return characteristic or that the selection of Underlying Funds and the allocations among them will result in the Fund underperforming other similar funds or cause an investor to lose money.

· Fund of Funds Risk—The Fund is exposed to the risks of the Underlying Funds in which it invests in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund allocates to each Underlying Fund. Because the Fund targets its investments in a higher percentage of equity Underlying Funds, Equity Underlying Fund Risks are expected to predominate.

· Equity Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in equity Underlying Funds include risks specific to their strategies, such as style risk, capitalization risk, and foreign investment risk, among others, as well as risks related to the equity markets in general.

· Fixed-Income Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in fixed-income Underlying Funds include credit risk, interest rate risk, and market volatility, liquidity and valuation risk, among others.

· Active Management Risk—The risk that the strategy, investment selection or trading execution of Advisors could cause the Fund to underperform its benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

· Underlying Fund Risk—The ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective will depend in part upon the ability of the Underlying Funds to achieve their investment objectives. There can be no guarantee that any Underlying Fund will achieve its investment objective.

Risk Lose Money [Text]

rr_RiskLoseMoney

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund.

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

Performance information is not available for the Fund because the Fund is newly operational. Once the Fund has completed one calendar year of operations, its performance information will become available.

For current performance information of each share class, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.tiaa-cref.org.

Performance Availability Website Address [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.tiaa-cref.org

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.10%

Other Expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.65%

^[1]

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.48%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.97%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

418

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none

Management Fees

rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets

0.10%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets

0.48%

^[1],[2]

Waivers and Expense Reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.51%)

^[3]

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

85

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)

rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther

none

Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)

rr_MaximumAccountFee

none

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets

0.48%

^[1],[2]

Waivers and Expense Reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.52%)

^[3]

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

75

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price)

rr_MaximumCumulativeSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions

rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther

none

Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)

rr_MaximumAccountFee

none

Other Expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.52%

^[1]

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.10%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.58%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

298

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

Expense [Heading]

rr_ExpenseHeading

FEES AND EXPENSES

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (deducted directly from gross amount of transaction)

Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination

2012-12-31

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund has not experienced portfolio turnover as of the date of this Prospectus because the Fund is newly operational.

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses, before expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreement will remain in place through December 31, 2012 but that there will be no waiver or expense reimbursement agreement in effect thereafter. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund is a “fund of funds” that invests in Institutional Class shares of other funds of TIAA-CREF Funds and potentially in other investment pools or investment products (collectively, the “Underlying Funds”). The Fund is designed for investors seeking long-term growth of capital through a relatively stable asset allocation strategy targeting an aggressive growth risk-return profile. The Fund will generally seek to meet its investment objective by investing: (1) approximately 100% of its assets in equity Underlying Funds and (2) approximately 0% of its assets in fixed-income Underlying Funds. The Fund may deviate from these target allocations by up to 10% depending upon current market conditions and outlook.

The Underlying Fund allocation targets generally represent targets for investments in equity and fixed-income asset classes. Within the equity and fixed-income asset classes, the Fund allocates its investments to particular market sectors (which may include U.S. equity, international equity, fixed-income and short-term fixed-income) represented by various Underlying Funds. To maintain an appropriate allocation among the Underlying Funds, the portfolio managers monitor the foreign and domestic equity markets, as well as overall financial and economic conditions. The Fund might sometimes be more heavily weighted toward equities or fixed-income than otherwise targeted, if the portfolio managers believe market conditions warrant. For example, the Fund might increase its holdings in fixed-income Underlying Funds in periods when the portfolio managers believe the equity markets will decline. The market sector allocations and Underlying Fund allocations may also be changed over time by the portfolio managers, including the addition and removal of market sectors and Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests in light of the Fund’s desired level of risk and potential return at a particular time as evaluated by the portfolio managers based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative factors. The portfolio managers may also opportunistically purchase other TIAA-CREF Funds or other investment pools or investment products, based on the portfolio managers’ evaluation of the market sectors and/or Underlying Funds without prior notice to shareholders.

As a result of its investments in the Underlying Funds, the Fund’s returns will reflect investments in a mix of domestic and foreign equities of companies of various sizes and a variety of domestic and foreign fixed-income instruments of private and governmental issuers of varying maturities and credit qualities.

As part of the Fund’s ability to invest in unaffiliated investment products or pools noted above, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) to gain exposure to various market sectors or securities in order to effect its asset allocation strategy. Additionally, the Fund may use ETFs and ETNs for cash management, hedging or defensive purposes. ETFs and ETNs will be subject to the risks associated with the types of securities or sectors that they track, while ETNs, which are structured as fixed-income obligations, will also be subject to the general risks of fixed-income securities, including credit risk.

The Fund’s targeted asset class allocations, market sector allocations within each asset class, and Underlying Fund allocations within each market sector as of December 9, 2011, are listed in the chart below. Actual allocations may differ and targeted allocations may change at any time.


Asset Class	Allocation	Market Sector	Allocation	Underlying Funds		Allocation
EQUITY	100%	U.S. Equity	70%	· Large-Cap Growth Fund		17.4%
				· Large-Cap Value Fund		16.9%
				· Growth & Income Fund		14.6%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Growth Index Fund		6.5%
				· Enhanced Large-Cap Value Index Fund		6.4%
				· Small-Cap Equity Fund		5.6%
				· Mid-Cap Growth Fund		1.3%
				· Mid-Cap Value Fund		1.3%
		International Equity	30%	· International Equity Fund		13.4%
				· Enhanced International Equity Index Fund		9.0%
				· Emerging Markets Equity Fund		7.6%
FIXED-INCOME	0%	Fixed-Income	0%	· Bond Plus Fund		0.0%
FIXED-INCOME	0%	Fixed-Income	0%	· Bond Fund		0.0%
		Short-Term Fixed-Income	0%	· Short-Term Bond Fund	0.0%
Total	100%	100%			100.0%

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:

· Asset Allocation Risk—The risk that the Fund may not achieve its target allocations. In addition, there is the risk that the asset allocations may not achieve the desired risk-return characteristic or that the selection of Underlying Funds and the allocations among them will result in the Fund underperforming other similar funds or cause an investor to lose money.

· Fund of Funds Risk—The Fund is exposed to the risks of the Underlying Funds in which it invests in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund allocates to each Underlying Fund. Because the Fund targets its investments in a significantly higher percentage of equity Underlying Funds, Equity Underlying Fund Risks are expected to predominate.

· Equity Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in equity Underlying Funds include risks specific to their strategies, such as style risk, capitalization risk, and foreign investment risk, among others, as well as risks related to the equity markets in general.

· Fixed-Income Underlying Funds Risks—The risks of investing in fixed-income Underlying Funds include credit risk, interest rate risk, and market volatility, liquidity and valuation risk, among others.

· Active Management Risk—The risk that the strategy, investment selection or trading execution of Advisors could cause the Fund to underperform its benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

· Underlying Fund Risk—The ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective will depend in part upon the ability of the Underlying Funds to achieve their investment objectives. There can be no guarantee that any Underlying Fund will achieve its investment objective.

Risk Lose Money [Text]

rr_RiskLoseMoney

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund.

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

Performance information is not available for the Fund because the Fund is newly operational. Once the Fund has completed one calendar year of operations, its performance information will become available.

For current performance information of each share class, including performance to the most recent month-end, please visit www.tiaa-cref.org.

Performance Availability Website Address [Text]

rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress

www.tiaa-cref.org

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge

rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice

none

Redemption or Exchange Fee

rr_ExchangeFeeOverRedemption

none