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Label Element Value
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading TIAA-CREF Lifestyle Growth Fund
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital with some current income.

Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading FEES AND EXPENSES
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund:

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] rr_ShareholderFeesCaption SHAREHOLDER FEES (deducted directly from gross amount of transaction)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination 2013-09-30
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
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. During the fiscal period ended May 31, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 7% (not annualized) of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 7.00%
Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates Other Expenses are estimates for the current fiscal year.
Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees "Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses" are the Fund's proportionate amount of the expenses of any investment companies or pools in which it invests. These expenses are not paid directly by Fund shareholders. Instead, Fund shareholders bear these expenses indirectly because they reduce Fund performance. Because "Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses" are included in the chart above, the Fund's operating expenses here will not correlate with the expenses included in the Financial Highlights in this Prospectus and the Fund's annual report.
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Example
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 September 30, 2013 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 [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund is a “fund of funds” that invests in Institutional Class shares of other funds of the Trust 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 generally seeks 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 Funds of the Trust 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 asset class allocations, market sector allocations within each asset class, and Underlying Fund allocations within each market sector as of June 30, 2012, are listed in the chart below. These allocations may change over time.


           

Asset Class

Allocation

Market Sector

Allocation

Underlying Funds

Allocation

EQUITY

80.59%

U.S. Equity

56.10%

· Large-Cap Growth Fund

13.92%

       

· Large-Cap Value Fund

13.74%

       

· Growth & Income Fund

11.66%

       

· Enhanced Large-Cap Growth Index Fund

5.19%

       

· Enhanced Large-Cap Value Index Fund

5.15%

       

· Small-Cap Equity Fund

4.36%

       

· Mid-Cap Value Fund

1.05%

       

· Mid-Cap Growth Fund

1.03%

   

International Equity

24.49%

· International Equity Fund

11.12%

       

· Enhanced International Equity Index Fund

7.49%

       

· Emerging Markets Equity Fund

5.88%

FIXED-INCOME

19.41%

Fixed-Income

19.41%

· Bond Plus Fund

19.41%


           

Total

100.00%

 

100.00%

 

100.00%

Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
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.


· Underlying 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 investment 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 Advisors’ strategy, investment selection or trading execution may cause the Fund to underperform relative to its benchmark index or mutual funds with similar investment objectives.


· Fund of Funds 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 Closing [Text Block] rr_RiskClosingTextBlock

There can be no assurances that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. You should not consider the Fund to be a complete investment program. Please see the non-summary portion of the prospectus for more detailed information about the risks described above, including the risks of the Underlying Funds.

Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading PAST PERFORMANCE
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

Performance information is not available for the Fund because the Fund has less than one calendar year of performance.


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

Performance One Year or Less [Text] rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess Performance information is not available for the Fund because the Fund has less than one calendar year of performance.
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress www.tiaa-cref.org
Retail Class
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or Exchange Fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther 15.00
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.65% [1]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.48% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.48%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.51%) [3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.97%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 99
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 418
Retirement Class
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or Exchange Fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.76% [1]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.48% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.34%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.51%) [3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.83%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 85
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 374
Premier Class
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or Exchange Fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.15%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.52% [1]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.48% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.25%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.52%) [3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.73%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 75
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 345
Institutional Class
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption or Exchange Fee rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.10%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.52% [1]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.48% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.10%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.52%) [3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.58%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 59
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 298
[1] Other Expenses are estimates for the current fiscal year.
[2] "Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses" are the Fund's proportionate amount of the expenses of any investment companies or pools in which it invests. These expenses are not paid directly by Fund shareholders. Instead, Fund shareholders bear these expenses indirectly because they reduce Fund performance. Because "Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses" are included in the chart above, the Fund's operating expenses here will not correlate with the expenses included in the Financial Highlights in this Prospectus and the Fund's annual report.
[3] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, Inc. ("Advisors"), has contractually agreed to reimburse the Fund for any Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses and extraordinary expenses) that exceed: (i) 0.49% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; (ii) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (iii) 0.25% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; and (iv) 0.10% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least September 30, 2013, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.