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Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading TIAA-CREF Emerging Markets Equity Fund
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks a favorable long-term total return, mainly through capital appreciation, by investing primarily in a portfolio of emerging markets equity investments.

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 2014-02-28
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 year ended October 31, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 115% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 115.00%
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 expense reimbursement agreement will remain in place through February 28, 2014, 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

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of emerging market issuers or in instruments with economic characteristics similar to emerging market equity securities. The Fund considers an “emerging market security” to be a security that is principally traded on a securities exchange of an emerging market or that is issued by an issuer that has primary operations in an emerging market. The Fund generally defines an “emerging market” as any of the countries or markets represented in the Fund’s benchmark index, the MSCI Emerging Markets® Index (“MSCI EM Index”), or any other country or market with similar emerging characteristics. Advisors’ stock selection drives its country and regional asset allocations for the Fund. However, Advisors regularly compares the Fund’s sector and country exposure against the MSCI EM Index to assess its comparative investment exposures. Advisors looks for companies of any size with sustainable earnings growth, focused management with successful track records, unique and easy-to-understand franchises (brands), stock prices that do not fully reflect the stock’s potential value, based on current earnings, assets, and long-term growth prospects, and consistent generation of free cash flow. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

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. An investment in the Fund, due to the nature of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:


· Market Risk—The risk that market prices of portfolio investments held by the Fund may fall rapidly or unpredictably due to a variety of factors, including changing economic, political or market conditions. Market risk may affect a single issuer, industry or sector of the economy, or it may affect the market as a whole.


· Issuer Risk (often called Financial Risk)—The risk that an issuer’s earnings prospects and overall financial position will deteriorate, causing a decline in the value of the issuer’s financial instruments over short or extended periods of time.


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


· Foreign Investment Risk—Foreign markets can be more volatile than the U.S. market due to increased risks of adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments and can result in greater price volatility and perform differently from financial instruments of U.S. issuers. This risk may be heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also be less liquid and more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.


· Emerging Markets Risk—The risk of foreign investment often increases in countries with emerging markets. For example, these countries may have more unstable governments than developed countries, and their economies may be based on only a few industries. Because their financial markets may be very small, share prices of financial instruments in emerging market countries may be volatile and difficult to determine. Financial instruments of issuers in these countries may be less liquid than those of issuers in more developed countries. In addition, foreign investors such as the Fund are subject to a variety of special restrictions in many emerging markets countries.

Risk Closing [Text Block] rr_RiskClosingTextBlock

Please see the non-summary portion of the prospectus for more detailed information about the risks described above.

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

The following chart and table help illustrate some of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The bar chart shows the annual total returns of the Institutional Class of the Fund, before taxes, in each full calendar year since inception of the Institutional Class. Because the expenses vary across share classes, the performance of the Institutional Class may vary from the other share classes. Below the bar chart are the best and worst returns of the Institutional Class of the Fund for a calendar quarter since inception of the Institutional Class. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional Class, Retirement Class, Premier Class and Retail Class over the one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods (where applicable) ended December 31, 2012, and how those returns compare to those of the Fund’s benchmark index. After-tax performance is shown only for Institutional Class shares, and after-tax returns for the other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Institutional Class shares.


The returns shown below reflect previous agreements by Advisors to waive or reimburse the Fund for certain fees and expenses. Without these waivers and reimbursements, the returns of the Fund would have been lower. Past performance of the Fund (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. The benchmark index listed below is unmanaged, and you cannot invest directly in the benchmark index. The returns for the benchmark index reflect no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.


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

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The following chart and table help illustrate some of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year.
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress www.tiaa-cref.org
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture Past performance of the Fund (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading] rr_BarChartHeading ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)
Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads [Text] rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads The returns shown below reflect previous agreements by Advisors to waive or reimburse the Fund for certain fees and expenses. Without these waivers and reimbursements, the returns of the Fund would have been lower.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 13.99%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. Worst quarter: -23.77%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2011.

Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel Best quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Mar. 31, 2012
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 13.99%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel Worst quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Sep. 30, 2011
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (23.77%)
Performance Table Heading rr_PerformanceTableHeading AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2012
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text] rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes The returns for the benchmark index reflect no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the periods shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text] rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown After-tax performance is shown only for Institutional Class shares, and after-tax returns for the other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Institutional Class shares.
Performance Table Closing [Text Block] rr_PerformanceTableClosingTextBlock
                 

Current performance of the Fund’s shares may be higher or lower than that shown above.

 

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the periods shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). After-tax returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary.

 
MSCI Emerging Markets® Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 18.22%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 6.18% [1]
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 (2.00%)
Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther 15.00
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.85%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.30%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.40%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.06%) [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.34%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 136
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 437
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 760
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 1,675
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 19.98%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 4.93%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Aug. 31, 2010
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 (2.00%)
Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.85%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.39%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.24%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.04%) [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.20%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 122
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 389
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 677
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 1,496
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 20.17%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 5.09%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Aug. 31, 2010
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 (2.00%)
Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.85%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.15%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.15%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.15%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.05%) [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.10%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 112
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 360
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 628
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 1,393
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 20.47%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 5.23%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Aug. 31, 2010
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 (2.00%)
Account Maintenance Fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000) rr_ShareholderFeeOther none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.85%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.14%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.99%
Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.04%) [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.95%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 97
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 311
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 543
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 1,209
Annual Return 2011 rr_AnnualReturn2011 (20.57%)
Annual Return 2012 rr_AnnualReturn2012 20.48%
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 20.48%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 5.34%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Aug. 31, 2010
Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 20.39%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 5.29%
Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Share
  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 13.67%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 4.64%
[1] Performance is calculated from the inception date of the Institutional Class.
[2] 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) 1.34% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; (ii) 1.20% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (iii) 1.10% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; and (iv) 0.95% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least February 28, 2014, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.