485BPOS

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 13, 2019
File Nos. 333-76651, 811-09301

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-1A

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933	x
Pre-Effective Amendment No.	o
Post-Effective Amendment No. 126	x
and/or
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT	x
OF 1940
Amendment No. 129	x
(Check appropriate box or boxes)

TIAA-CREF Funds
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

730 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10017-3206
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code: (800) 842-2733

John M. McCann, Esq.
TIAA-CREF Funds
8500 Andrew Carnegie Blvd.
Charlotte, North Carolina 28262

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

Copy to:
Christopher P. Harvey, Esq.

Adam T. Teufel, Esq.

Dechert LLP

One International Place, 40th Floor

100 Oliver Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02110

Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering:
As soon as practicable after effectiveness of the Registration Statement.

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

x	Immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
o	On (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)
o	60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
o	75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
o	On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
o	On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of rule 485
If appropriate, check the following box:
o	This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.

Explanatory Note

This post-effective amendment on Form 485BPOS is being submitted for the sole purpose of furnishing, in Exhibit 101, XBRL Interactive Data for the related official 485BPOS filing which was submitted to the Commission on July 25, 2019.

No other changes have been made to this Form 485BPOS. This Form 485BPOS does not reflect events that may have occurred subsequent to the original filing date, and does not modify or update any related disclosures made in the related official Form 485BPOS.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, TIAA-CREF Funds certifies that it meets all the requirements for effectiveness of this Registration Statement under Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act of 1933 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of New York, and State of New York on the 13^th day of August, 2019.

TIAA-CREF FUNDS
By:	/s/ Bradley Finkle
Name:	Bradley Finkle
Title:	Principal Executive Officer and President

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this registration statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Signature Title Date

/s/ Bradley Finkle	Principal Executive Officer and President	August 13, 2019
Bradley Finkle	(Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ E. Scott Wickerham	Principal Financial Officer,	August 13, 2019
E. Scott Wickerham	Principal Accounting Officer and Treasurer
	(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

SIGNATURE OF TRUSTEE	DATE	SIGNATURE OF TRUSTEE	DATE
*	August 13, 2019	*	August 13, 2019
Forrest Berkley		Thomas J. Kenny
*	August 13, 2019	*	August 13, 2019
Joseph A. Boateng		James M. Poterba
*	August 13, 2019	*	August 13, 2019
Janice C. Eberly		Maceo K. Sloan
*	August 13, 2019	*	August 13, 2019
Nancy A. Eckl		Laura T. Starks
*	August 13, 2019
Michael A. Forrester
*	August 13, 2019
Howell E. Jackson
/s/ Rachael M. Zufall	August 13, 2019
Rachael M. Zufall
as attorney-in-fact

* Signed by Rachael M. Zufall pursuant to powers of attorney previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

EXHIBIT LIST

101.	INS XBRL Instance Document
101.	SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema
101.	DEF XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase
101.	LAB XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase
101.	PRE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase

XML

Document and Entity Information	Total
Prospectus:
Document Type	485BPOS
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2019
Entity Registrant Name	TIAA-CREF FUNDS
Entity Central Index Key	0001084380
Entity Inv Company Type	N-1A
Amendment Flag	false
Document Creation Date	Jul. 25, 2019
Document Effective Date	Aug. 01, 2019
Prospectus Date	Aug. 01, 2019

XML

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks total return, primarily through current income.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Bond Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Management fees		0.28%	0.28%	0.28%	0.28%	0.28%	0.28%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.02%	0.16%	0.02%	0.27%	0.07%	0.02%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.30%	0.44%	0.45%	0.55%	0.60%	0.30%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[1]						(0.30%)	[2]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.30%	0.44%	0.45%	0.55%	0.60%	none

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
1 year	$ 31	$ 45	$ 46	$ 56	$ 61	none
3 years	97	141	144	176	192	none
5 years	169	246	252	307	335	none
10 years	$ 381	$ 555	$ 567	$ 689	$ 750	none

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 138% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities, senior loans and loan participations and assignments and notes. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, when Advisors believes that such overweight or underweight may cause the Fund to outperform the index. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, was 5.66 years.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Fund may use an investment strategy called “mortgage rolls” (also referred to as “dollar rolls”), in which the Fund sells securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts with a counterparty to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) but not identical securities on a specified future date. The Fund loses the right to receive principal and interest paid on the securities sold. However, the Fund would benefit to the extent of any price received for the securities sold and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) plus the interest earned on the short-term investment awaiting the settlement date of the forward purchase. If such benefits exceed the income and gain or loss due to mortgage repayments that would have been realized on the securities sold as part of the mortgage roll, the use of this technique will enhance the investment performance of the Fund compared with what such performance would have been without the use of mortgage rolls. Realizing benefits from the use of mortgage rolls depends upon the ability of Advisors to correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 25% of the Fund’s assets.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Mortgage Roll Risk—The risk that Advisors will not correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates, which will diminish the Fund’s performance.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Senior Loan Risk—Many senior loans present credit risk comparable to high-yield securities. The liquidation of the collateral backing a senior loan may not satisfy the borrower’s obligation to the Fund in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. Senior loans also expose the Fund to call risk and illiquid investments risk. The secondary market for senior loans can be limited. Trades can be infrequent and the values for senior loans may experience volatility. In some cases, negotiations for the sale or settlement of senior loans may require weeks to complete, which may impair the Fund’s ability to raise cash to satisfy redemptions, pay dividends, pay expenses or to take advantage of other investment opportunities in a timely manner. If an issuer of a senior loan prepays or redeems the loan prior to maturity, the Fund will have to reinvest the proceeds in other senior loans or instruments that may pay lower interest rates.

·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 have lower overall liquidity 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 market countries.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Portfolio Turnover Risk—Depending on market and other conditions, the Fund may experience high portfolio turnover, which may result in greater transactional expenses, such as brokerage commissions, bid-ask spreads, or dealer mark-ups, and capital gains (which could increase taxes and, consequently, reduce returns).

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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

Past performance

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Bond Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 6.67%.

Best quarter: 4.14%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -2.83%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Bond Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, 10 Years		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	(0.38%)	2.95%		4.08%		Jul. 01, 1999
Advisor Class	(0.46%)	2.92%	[1]	4.07%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	(0.53%)	2.79%		3.95%	[1]	Sep. 30, 2009
Retirement Class	(0.66%)	2.69%		3.81%		Mar. 31, 2006
Retail Class	(0.80%)	2.63%		3.79%		Mar. 31, 2006
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	(1.65%)	1.51%		2.59%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	(0.23%)	1.62%		2.59%
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	0.01%	2.52%		3.48%

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.70% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

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Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund

Risk/Return:

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Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund

Objective [Heading]

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Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks total return, primarily through 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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 138% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

138.00%

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. 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 bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities, senior loans and loan participations and assignments and notes. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, when Advisors believes that such overweight or underweight may cause the Fund to outperform the index. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, was 5.66 years.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Fund may use an investment strategy called “mortgage rolls” (also referred to as “dollar rolls”), in which the Fund sells securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts with a counterparty to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) but not identical securities on a specified future date. The Fund loses the right to receive principal and interest paid on the securities sold. However, the Fund would benefit to the extent of any price received for the securities sold and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) plus the interest earned on the short-term investment awaiting the settlement date of the forward purchase. If such benefits exceed the income and gain or loss due to mortgage repayments that would have been realized on the securities sold as part of the mortgage roll, the use of this technique will enhance the investment performance of the Fund compared with what such performance would have been without the use of mortgage rolls. Realizing benefits from the use of mortgage rolls depends upon the ability of Advisors to correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 25% of the Fund’s assets.

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Mortgage Roll Risk—The risk that Advisors will not correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates, which will diminish the Fund’s performance.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Senior Loan Risk—Many senior loans present credit risk comparable to high-yield securities. The liquidation of the collateral backing a senior loan may not satisfy the borrower’s obligation to the Fund in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. Senior loans also expose the Fund to call risk and illiquid investments risk. The secondary market for senior loans can be limited. Trades can be infrequent and the values for senior loans may experience volatility. In some cases, negotiations for the sale or settlement of senior loans may require weeks to complete, which may impair the Fund’s ability to raise cash to satisfy redemptions, pay dividends, pay expenses or to take advantage of other investment opportunities in a timely manner. If an issuer of a senior loan prepays or redeems the loan prior to maturity, the Fund will have to reinvest the proceeds in other senior loans or instruments that may pay lower interest rates.

·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 have lower overall liquidity 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 market countries.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Portfolio Turnover Risk—Depending on market and other conditions, the Fund may experience high portfolio turnover, which may result in greater transactional expenses, such as brokerage commissions, bid-ask spreads, or dealer mark-ups, and capital gains (which could increase taxes and, consequently, reduce returns).

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.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.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 (%)† Bond Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 6.67%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 4.14%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -2.83%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

6.67%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2009

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

4.14%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2013

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(2.83%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.01%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.52%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.48%

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | 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

0.28%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.30%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.30%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 31

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

97

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

169

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 381

Annual Return 2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

6.47%

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

6.96%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

6.73%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

7.34%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

(1.09%)

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

5.84%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

0.72%

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

4.21%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

4.47%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

(0.38%)

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.38%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.95%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.08%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Jul. 01, 1999

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(1.65%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.51%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.59%

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.23%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.62%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.59%

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | Advisor 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

0.28%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.16%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.44%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.44%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 45

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

141

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

246

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 555

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.46%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.92%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.07%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | 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

0.28%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.45%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.45%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 46

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

144

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

252

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 567

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.53%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.79%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.95%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 30, 2009

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | 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

0.28%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.27%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 56

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

176

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

307

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 689

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.66%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.69%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.81%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | 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

0.28%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.07%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.60%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.60%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 61

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

192

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

335

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 750

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.80%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.63%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.79%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Bond Fund | Class W

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

0.28%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.30%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.30%)

^[1],[3]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

none

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.70% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[3] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks total return that corresponds with the total return of a broad U.S. investment-grade bond market index.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Management fees		0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.01%	0.12%	0.01%	0.26%	0.09%	0.01%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.11%	0.22%	0.26%	0.36%	0.44%	0.11%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[1]						(0.11%)	[2]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.11%	0.22%	0.26%	0.36%	0.44%	none

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
1 year	$ 11	$ 23	$ 27	$ 37	$ 45	none
3 years	35	71	84	116	141	none
5 years	62	124	146	202	246	none
10 years	$ 141	$ 280	$ 331	$ 456	$ 555	none

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 20% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds within its benchmark and portfolio tracking index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the “Index”). The Fund uses a sampling technique to create a portfolio that closely matches the overall investment characteristics of the Index (for example, duration, sector diversification and credit quality) without investing in all of the securities in its index. At times the Fund may purchase securities not held in the Index, but which Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) believes have similar investment characteristics to securities held in its index. Generally, the Fund intends to invest in a wide spectrum of public, investment-grade, taxable debt securities denominated in U.S. dollars including government securities, as well as mortgage-backed, commercial mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities may include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations, to the extent that such instruments are held by the Index. The Fund generally will invest in foreign securities denominated in U.S. dollars only to the extent they are included or eligible to be included in the Index. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The securities purchased by the Fund will mainly be high-quality instruments rated in the top four credit categories by Moody’s or S&P or deemed to be of the same quality by Advisors using its own credit quality analysis. The Fund may continue to hold instruments that were rated as high-quality when purchased, but which subsequently are downgraded to below-investment-grade status or have their ratings withdrawn by one or more rating agencies.

Because the return of the Index is not reduced by investment and other operating expenses, the Fund’s ability to match the Index is negatively affected by the costs of buying and selling securities, as well as other fees and expenses. The use of the Index by the Fund is not a fundamental policy of the Fund and may be changed without shareholder approval.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Index Risk—The risk that the Fund’s performance may not correspond to its benchmark index for any period of time and may underperform such index or the overall financial market. Additionally, to the extent that the Fund’s investments vary from the composition of its benchmark index, the Fund’s performance could potentially vary from the index’s performance to a greater extent than if the Fund merely attempted to replicate the index.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

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

Past performance

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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Bond Index Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 5.93%.

Best quarter: 3.75%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. Worst quarter: -3.23%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, Since Inception		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	(0.02%)	2.41%		3.01%		Sep. 14, 2009
Advisor Class	(0.17%)	2.36%	[1]	2.98%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	(0.27%)	2.24%		2.85%	[1]	Sep. 30, 2009
Retirement Class	(0.36%)	2.16%		2.75%		Sep. 14, 2009
Retail Class	(0.45%)	2.08%		2.66%		Sep. 14, 2009
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	(1.11%)	1.37%		2.03%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	(0.02%)	1.39%		1.92%
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	0.01%	2.52%		3.19%	[2]

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.13% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.28% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.28% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.38% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.48% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.13% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[2] Performance is calculated from the inception date of the Institutional Class.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks total return that corresponds with the total return of a broad U.S. investment-grade bond market index.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 20% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

20.00%

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. 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 bonds within its benchmark and portfolio tracking index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the “Index”). The Fund uses a sampling technique to create a portfolio that closely matches the overall investment characteristics of the Index (for example, duration, sector diversification and credit quality) without investing in all of the securities in its index. At times the Fund may purchase securities not held in the Index, but which Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) believes have similar investment characteristics to securities held in its index. Generally, the Fund intends to invest in a wide spectrum of public, investment-grade, taxable debt securities denominated in U.S. dollars including government securities, as well as mortgage-backed, commercial mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities may include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations, to the extent that such instruments are held by the Index. The Fund generally will invest in foreign securities denominated in U.S. dollars only to the extent they are included or eligible to be included in the Index. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The securities purchased by the Fund will mainly be high-quality instruments rated in the top four credit categories by Moody’s or S&P or deemed to be of the same quality by Advisors using its own credit quality analysis. The Fund may continue to hold instruments that were rated as high-quality when purchased, but which subsequently are downgraded to below-investment-grade status or have their ratings withdrawn by one or more rating agencies.

Because the return of the Index is not reduced by investment and other operating expenses, the Fund’s ability to match the Index is negatively affected by the costs of buying and selling securities, as well as other fees and expenses. The use of the Index by the Fund is not a fundamental policy of the Fund and may be changed without shareholder approval.

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Index Risk—The risk that the Fund’s performance may not correspond to its benchmark index for any period of time and may underperform such index or the overall financial market. Additionally, to the extent that the Fund’s investments vary from the composition of its benchmark index, the Fund’s performance could potentially vary from the index’s performance to a greater extent than if the Fund merely attempted to replicate the index.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.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.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 (%)† Bond Index Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 5.93%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 3.75%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. Worst quarter: -3.23%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

5.93%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2011

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

3.75%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Dec. 31, 2016

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(3.23%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.01%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.52%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

3.19%

^[1]

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | 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

0.01%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.11%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.11%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 11

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

35

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

62

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 141

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

6.32%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

7.65%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

4.10%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

(2.34%)

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

5.87%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

0.53%

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

2.38%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

3.42%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

(0.02%)

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.02%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.41%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

3.01%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 14, 2009

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(1.11%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.37%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.03%

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.02%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.39%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

1.92%

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | Advisor 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

0.12%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.22%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.22%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 23

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

71

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

124

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 280

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.17%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.36%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.98%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | 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

0.01%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.26%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.26%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 27

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

84

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

146

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 331

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.27%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.24%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.85%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 30, 2009

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | 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

0.26%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 37

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

116

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

202

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 456

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.36%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.16%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.75%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 14, 2009

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | 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

0.09%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.44%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.44%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 45

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

141

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

246

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 555

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.45%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.08%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.66%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 14, 2009

TIAA-CREF Bond Index Fund | Class W

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

0.01%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.11%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.11%)

^[2],[4]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

none

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

[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, LLC, 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) 0.13% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.28% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.28% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.38% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.48% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.13% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[3] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[4] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks total return, primarily through current income.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Management fees		0.29%	0.29%	0.29%	0.29%	0.29%	0.29%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.01%	0.06%	0.01%	0.26%	0.08%	0.02%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.30%	0.35%	0.45%	0.55%	0.62%	0.31%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[1]						(0.31%)	[2]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.30%	0.35%	0.45%	0.55%	0.62%	none

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
1 year	$ 31	$ 36	$ 46	$ 56	$ 63	none
3 years	97	113	144	176	199	none
5 years	169	197	252	307	346	none
10 years	$ 381	$ 443	$ 567	$ 689	$ 774	none

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 106% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund’s portfolio is divided into two segments. The first segment, which makes up at least 70% of the Fund’s assets, is invested primarily in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury and agency securities and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. The securities within the Fund’s first segment are mainly high-quality instruments rated in the top four credit categories by Moody’s or S&P, or deemed to be of the same quality by Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) using its own credit analysis. The second segment, which will not exceed 30% of the Fund’s assets, is invested in fixed-income securities and bonds with special features in an effort to improve the Fund’s total return. Potential investments in this segment include, but are not limited to, non-investment-grade securities (those rated Ba1 or lower by Moody’s or BB+ or lower by S&P), emerging market fixed-income securities, convertible and preferred securities and loan participations and assignments and notes. Non-investment-grade securities are usually called “high yield” or “junk bonds” and are speculative in nature. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, was 5.66 years.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Fund may use an investment strategy called “mortgage rolls” (also referred to as “dollar rolls”), in which the Fund sells securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts with a counterparty to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) but not identical securities on a specified future date. The Fund loses the right to receive principal and interest paid on the securities sold. However, the Fund would benefit to the extent of any price received for the securities sold and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) plus the interest earned on the short-term investment awaiting the settlement date of the forward purchase. If such benefits exceed the income and gain or loss due to mortgage repayments that would have been realized on the securities sold as part of the mortgage roll, the use of this technique will enhance the investment performance of the Fund compared with what such performance would have been without the use of mortgage rolls. Realizing benefits from the use of mortgage rolls depends upon the ability of Advisors to predict correctly mortgage prepayments and interest rates.

The Fund can make foreign investments, including investments in emerging market countries and non-dollar-denominated instruments, but the Fund does not expect such investments to exceed 25% of its assets under most circumstances.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Mortgage Roll Risk—The risk that Advisors will not correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates, which will diminish the Fund’s performance.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·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 have lower overall liquidity 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 market countries.

·Senior Loan Risk—Many senior loans present credit risk comparable to high-yield securities. The liquidation of the collateral backing a senior loan may not satisfy the borrower’s obligation to the Fund in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. Senior loans also expose the Fund to call risk and illiquid investments risk. The secondary market for senior loans can be limited. Trades can be infrequent and the values for senior loans may experience volatility. In some cases, negotiations for the sale or settlement of senior loans may require weeks to complete, which may impair the Fund’s ability to raise cash to satisfy redemptions, pay dividends, pay expenses or to take advantage of other investment opportunities in a timely manner. If an issuer of a senior loan prepays or redeems the loan prior to maturity, the Fund will have to reinvest the proceeds in other senior loans or instruments that may pay lower interest rates.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

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

Past performance

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Bond Plus Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 6.62%.

Best quarter: 5.36%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -2.59%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, 10 Years		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	(0.25%)	3.10%		4.84%		Mar. 31, 2006
Advisor Class	(0.29%)	3.08%	[1]	4.83%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	(0.40%)	2.96%		4.70%	[1]	Sep. 30, 2009
Retirement Class	(0.40%)	2.86%		4.59%		Mar. 31, 2006
Retail Class	(0.56%)	2.77%		4.54%		Mar. 31, 2006
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	(1.61%)	1.50%		3.26%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	(0.16%)	1.67%		3.13%
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	0.01%	2.52%		3.48%

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.70% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks total return, primarily through 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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 106% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

106.00%

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. 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 bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund’s portfolio is divided into two segments. The first segment, which makes up at least 70% of the Fund’s assets, is invested primarily in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury and agency securities and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. The securities within the Fund’s first segment are mainly high-quality instruments rated in the top four credit categories by Moody’s or S&P, or deemed to be of the same quality by Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) using its own credit analysis. The second segment, which will not exceed 30% of the Fund’s assets, is invested in fixed-income securities and bonds with special features in an effort to improve the Fund’s total return. Potential investments in this segment include, but are not limited to, non-investment-grade securities (those rated Ba1 or lower by Moody’s or BB+ or lower by S&P), emerging market fixed-income securities, convertible and preferred securities and loan participations and assignments and notes. Non-investment-grade securities are usually called “high yield” or “junk bonds” and are speculative in nature. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, was 5.66 years.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Fund may use an investment strategy called “mortgage rolls” (also referred to as “dollar rolls”), in which the Fund sells securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts with a counterparty to repurchase similar (same type, coupon and maturity) but not identical securities on a specified future date. The Fund loses the right to receive principal and interest paid on the securities sold. However, the Fund would benefit to the extent of any price received for the securities sold and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) plus the interest earned on the short-term investment awaiting the settlement date of the forward purchase. If such benefits exceed the income and gain or loss due to mortgage repayments that would have been realized on the securities sold as part of the mortgage roll, the use of this technique will enhance the investment performance of the Fund compared with what such performance would have been without the use of mortgage rolls. Realizing benefits from the use of mortgage rolls depends upon the ability of Advisors to predict correctly mortgage prepayments and interest rates.

The Fund can make foreign investments, including investments in emerging market countries and non-dollar-denominated instruments, but the Fund does not expect such investments to exceed 25% of its assets under most circumstances.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies.

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Mortgage Roll Risk—The risk that Advisors will not correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates, which will diminish the Fund’s performance.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·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 have lower overall liquidity 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 market countries.

·Senior Loan Risk—Many senior loans present credit risk comparable to high-yield securities. The liquidation of the collateral backing a senior loan may not satisfy the borrower’s obligation to the Fund in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. Senior loans also expose the Fund to call risk and illiquid investments risk. The secondary market for senior loans can be limited. Trades can be infrequent and the values for senior loans may experience volatility. In some cases, negotiations for the sale or settlement of senior loans may require weeks to complete, which may impair the Fund’s ability to raise cash to satisfy redemptions, pay dividends, pay expenses or to take advantage of other investment opportunities in a timely manner. If an issuer of a senior loan prepays or redeems the loan prior to maturity, the Fund will have to reinvest the proceeds in other senior loans or instruments that may pay lower interest rates.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.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.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 (%)† Bond Plus Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 6.62%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 5.36%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -2.59%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

6.62%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2009

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

5.36%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2013

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(2.59%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.01%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.52%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.48%

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | 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

0.29%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.01%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.30%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.30%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 31

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

97

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

169

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 381

Annual Return 2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

10.32%

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

8.47%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

6.85%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

8.45%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

(0.68%)

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

5.80%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

0.63%

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

4.66%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

4.81%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

(0.25%)

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.25%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.10%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.84%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(1.61%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.50%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.26%

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.16%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.67%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.13%

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | Advisor 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

0.29%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.06%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.35%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.35%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 36

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

113

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

197

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 443

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.29%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.08%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.83%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | 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

0.29%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.01%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.45%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.45%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 46

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

144

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

252

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 567

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.40%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.96%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.70%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 30, 2009

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | 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

0.29%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.26%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 56

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

176

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

307

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 689

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.40%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.86%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.59%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | 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

0.29%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.08%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.62%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.62%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 63

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

199

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

346

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 774

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.56%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.77%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.54%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Bond Plus Fund | Class W

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

0.29%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.31%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.31%)

^[1],[3]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

none

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.70% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[3] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

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TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks current income that is exempt from regular federal income tax.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Retail Class
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	$ 15.00

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class		Retail Class
Management fees	[1]	0.25%	0.25%		0.25%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees					0.25%
Other expenses		0.08%	0.18%	[2]	0.11%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.33%	0.43%		0.61%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[3]	(0.03%)	(0.02%)		(0.02%)
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.30%	0.41%		0.59%

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Retail Class
1 year	$ 31	$ 42	$ 60
3 years	103	136	193
5 years	182	239	338
10 years	$ 415	$ 540	$ 760

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 43% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in tax-exempt bonds, a type of municipal security, the interest on which, in the opinion of the issuer’s bond counsel at the time of issuance, is exempt from federal income tax, including federal alternative minimum tax (“AMT”). The Fund will generally invest in tax-exempt bonds that have a final maturity of between five and fifteen years. In pursuing its investment objective, the Fund seeks to weight investment in tax-exempt bonds such that at the time of investment in a particular bond at least 5% and not more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets (calculated based on the face (par) value of each tax-exempt bond) is invested in tax-exempt bonds with a final maturity in each year within the five-to-fifteen year maturity range. When a municipal security has a final maturity of less than five years, the Fund normally intends to sell that security within a year and reinvest the proceeds in securities with maturities in the five-to-fifteen year range. The Fund’s portfolio is “laddered” by investing in municipal obligations with different final maturities so that some obligations age out of the five-to-fifteen year maturity range during each year. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in securities rated below investment-grade, or unrated securities of comparable quality, which are usually called “junk bonds.”

The Fund may also invest in other municipal securities including bonds, notes, commercial paper and other instruments (including participation interests in such securities) issued by or on behalf of the states, territories and possessions of the United States (including the District of Columbia) and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities, the interest on which, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuers at the time of issuance, is exempt from regular federal income tax (i.e., excludable from gross income for individuals for federal income tax purposes but not necessarily exempt from AMT). Some of these securities may also be exempt from certain state and local income taxes. The Fund generally defines final maturity as (i) the stated final maturity of a bond, whether or not callable; (ii) the first call date of an existing pre-refunded bond; (iii) the earliest put date of a put bond; or (iv) the monthly re-set date of a municipal floating-rate bond or obligation. All municipal obligations maturing within a calendar year will be defined as having the same final maturity. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

Municipal securities are often issued to raise funds for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities such as bridges, highways, housing, hospitals, mass transportation facilities, schools, streets and public utilities such as water and sewer works.

The Fund does not have a specific target for its average portfolio duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index, was 5.57 years.

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in private activity bonds. Private activity bonds are tax-exempt bonds whose proceeds are used to finance private, for-profit organizations. The interest on these securities (including the Fund’s distribution of that interest) may be a preference item for purposes of the AMT. The AMT is a special tax system that ensures that individuals and certain corporations pay at least some federal taxes. Income from securities that are a preference item is included in the computation of the AMT.

The Fund can also invest in other municipal securities, including certificates of participation, municipal leases, municipal obligation components and municipal custody receipts. In addition, the Fund can invest in municipal bonds secured by mortgages on single-family homes and multi-family projects. The Fund’s investments in these securities are subject to prepayment and extension risk. All of the Fund’s assets are dollar-denominated securities.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies.

The Fund pursues superior returns using historical yield spread and credit analysis to identify and invest in undervalued market sectors and individual securities. The Fund usually sells investments that Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) believes to be overvalued on a relative basis.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·State and Municipal Investment Risk—Because the Fund invests significantly in tax-exempt bonds and other municipal securities, events affecting states and municipalities may adversely affect the Fund’s investments and its performance. These events may include severe financial difficulties and continued budget deficits, economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, state constitutional limits on tax increases, and changes in the credit ratings assigned to state and municipal issuers of debt instruments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Tax Risk—Income from tax-exempt municipal obligations could be declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or the non-compliant conduct of a bond issuer.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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

Past performance

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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.

As of August 1, 2018, certain changes were made to the Fund’s investment strategy. As a result, the Fund’s performance may differ from the performance information shown below for the period prior to August 1, 2018 as the Fund did not employ a laddering approach during this period. 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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† 5–15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 5.54%.

Best quarter: 6.48%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -4.78%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, 10 Years		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	1.64%	2.99%		4.20%		Mar. 31, 2006
Advisor Class	1.50%	2.97%	[1]	4.19%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Retail Class	1.37%	2.71%		3.95%		Mar. 31, 2006
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	1.62%	2.70%		3.99%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	2.04%	2.74%		3.89%
Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	1.41%	3.87%		4.85%

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Management fees have been restated to reflect current fees.

[2] Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.

[3] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; and (iii) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor Class that is prior to its inception date is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor Class. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks current income that is exempt from regular federal income tax.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 43% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

43.00%

Expenses Restated to Reflect Current [Text]

rr_ExpensesRestatedToReflectCurrent

Management fees have been restated to reflect current fees.

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. 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 tax-exempt bonds, a type of municipal security, the interest on which, in the opinion of the issuer’s bond counsel at the time of issuance, is exempt from federal income tax, including federal alternative minimum tax (“AMT”). The Fund will generally invest in tax-exempt bonds that have a final maturity of between five and fifteen years. In pursuing its investment objective, the Fund seeks to weight investment in tax-exempt bonds such that at the time of investment in a particular bond at least 5% and not more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets (calculated based on the face (par) value of each tax-exempt bond) is invested in tax-exempt bonds with a final maturity in each year within the five-to-fifteen year maturity range. When a municipal security has a final maturity of less than five years, the Fund normally intends to sell that security within a year and reinvest the proceeds in securities with maturities in the five-to-fifteen year range. The Fund’s portfolio is “laddered” by investing in municipal obligations with different final maturities so that some obligations age out of the five-to-fifteen year maturity range during each year. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in securities rated below investment-grade, or unrated securities of comparable quality, which are usually called “junk bonds.”

The Fund may also invest in other municipal securities including bonds, notes, commercial paper and other instruments (including participation interests in such securities) issued by or on behalf of the states, territories and possessions of the United States (including the District of Columbia) and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities, the interest on which, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuers at the time of issuance, is exempt from regular federal income tax (i.e., excludable from gross income for individuals for federal income tax purposes but not necessarily exempt from AMT). Some of these securities may also be exempt from certain state and local income taxes. The Fund generally defines final maturity as (i) the stated final maturity of a bond, whether or not callable; (ii) the first call date of an existing pre-refunded bond; (iii) the earliest put date of a put bond; or (iv) the monthly re-set date of a municipal floating-rate bond or obligation. All municipal obligations maturing within a calendar year will be defined as having the same final maturity. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

Municipal securities are often issued to raise funds for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities such as bridges, highways, housing, hospitals, mass transportation facilities, schools, streets and public utilities such as water and sewer works.

The Fund does not have a specific target for its average portfolio duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index, was 5.57 years.

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in private activity bonds. Private activity bonds are tax-exempt bonds whose proceeds are used to finance private, for-profit organizations. The interest on these securities (including the Fund’s distribution of that interest) may be a preference item for purposes of the AMT. The AMT is a special tax system that ensures that individuals and certain corporations pay at least some federal taxes. Income from securities that are a preference item is included in the computation of the AMT.

The Fund can also invest in other municipal securities, including certificates of participation, municipal leases, municipal obligation components and municipal custody receipts. In addition, the Fund can invest in municipal bonds secured by mortgages on single-family homes and multi-family projects. The Fund’s investments in these securities are subject to prepayment and extension risk. All of the Fund’s assets are dollar-denominated securities.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies.

The Fund pursues superior returns using historical yield spread and credit analysis to identify and invest in undervalued market sectors and individual securities. The Fund usually sells investments that Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) believes to be overvalued on a relative basis.

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·State and Municipal Investment Risk—Because the Fund invests significantly in tax-exempt bonds and other municipal securities, events affecting states and municipalities may adversely affect the Fund’s investments and its performance. These events may include severe financial difficulties and continued budget deficits, economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, state constitutional limits on tax increases, and changes in the credit ratings assigned to state and municipal issuers of debt instruments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Tax Risk—Income from tax-exempt municipal obligations could be declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or the non-compliant conduct of a bond issuer.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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.

As of August 1, 2018, certain changes were made to the Fund’s investment strategy. As a result, the Fund’s performance may differ from the performance information shown below for the period prior to August 1, 2018 as the Fund did not employ a laddering approach during this period. 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 an 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.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.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 (%)† 5–15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 5.54%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 6.48%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -4.78%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

5.54%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2009

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

6.48%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Dec. 31, 2010

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(4.78%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | Bloomberg Barclays 10-Year Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.41%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.87%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.85%

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | 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

0.25%

^[1]

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.08%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.33%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.03%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.30%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 31

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

103

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

182

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 415

Annual Return 2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

11.76%

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

2.30%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

12.02%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

5.49%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

(3.63%)

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

6.98%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

2.39%

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

(0.80%)

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

4.91%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

1.64%

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.64%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.99%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.20%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.62%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.70%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.99%

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

2.04%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.74%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.89%

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | Advisor 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

0.25%

^[1]

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.18%

^[3]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.43%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.02%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.41%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 42

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

136

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

239

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 540

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.50%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.97%

^[4]

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

4.19%

^[4]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF 5-15 Year Laddered Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | 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

0.25%

^[1]

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.11%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.61%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.02%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.59%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 60

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

193

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

338

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 760

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.37%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.71%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.95%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

[1] Management fees have been restated to reflect current fees.

[2] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; and (iii) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[3] Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.

[4] The performance shown for the Advisor Class that is prior to its inception date is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor Class. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks total return, primarily through current income, while giving special consideration to certain environmental criteria.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
Management fees		0.40%	0.40%	0.40%	0.40%	0.40%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses	[1]	0.65%	0.75%	0.64%	0.90%	0.88%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		1.05%	1.15%	1.19%	1.30%	1.53%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[2]	(0.60%)	(0.62%)	(0.59%)	(0.60%)	(0.73%)
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.45%	0.53%	0.60%	0.70%	0.80%

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
1 year	$ 46	$ 54	$ 61	$ 72	$ 82
3 years	274	304	319	353	412
5 years	521	573	597	655	765
10 years	$ 1,228	$ 1,342	$ 1,391	$ 1,515	$ 1,761

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 between November 16, 2018 (inception date) and March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 31% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, taxable municipal securities and mortgage-backed or other asset-backed securities. Generally, the Fund intends to invest in bonds issued by both domestic and foreign issuers; including foreign issuers from emerging market countries. While the Fund’s investments will generally be denominated in U.S. dollars, the Fund may also invest in non-dollar denominated instruments. The Fund may also invest in securities issued by U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises (“GSEs”) such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”). The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality or unrated securities of comparable quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund may also invest in securities having a variable or floating interest rate. The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any maturity or duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. Green Bond Index, was 5.14 years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund seeks to invest the substantial majority of its assets in “green” investments. “Green” investments include, but are not limited to, securities of companies that develop or provide products or services that seek to provide environmental solutions and/or support efforts to reduce their own environmental footprint; investments that support environmental projects; structured securities that are collateralized by assets supporting environmental themes; and securities that, in the opinion of the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), have no more than a negligible direct negative environmental impact, which may include securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies, and GSEs. The green investment criteria the Fund takes into consideration are non-fundamental investment policies. Such criteria may be changed without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders.

Advisors seeks to invest the Fund’s assets in fixed-income instruments according to TIAA’s proprietary Impact framework. The Fund’s overall design and investment strategy centers on rigorous and independent research analysis to help identify bonds with both favorable yields and compelling relative value, and positive environmental impact as it relates to each respective issuer’s and/or individual project’s use of proceeds. These investments provide access to the following environmental themes: 1) renewable energy and climate change (renewable energy projects, smart grid and other projects designed to make generation and transmission systems more efficient, and other projects which seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions); and 2) natural resources (land conservation, sustainable forestry and agriculture, remediation and redevelopment of polluted or contaminated sites, sustainable waste management projects, water infrastructure and other sustainable building projects).

The Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee (the “CGSR Committee”) of the Board of Trustees of the Trust (“Board of Trustees”) periodically reviews the green investment criteria used to evaluate securities held by the Fund. Advisors seeks to ensure that the Fund’s investments are consistent with its green investment criteria, but Advisors cannot guarantee that this will always be the case for every Fund investment. Investing on the basis of green investment criteria is qualitative and subjective by nature, and there can be no assurance that the criteria utilized by the Fund or any judgment exercised by the CGSR Committee or Advisors will reflect the beliefs or values of any particular investor.

The Fund is actively managed and does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, Advisors performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Subject to the green investment criteria described above, individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index when Advisors believes that the Fund can boost returns above that of the index.

The Fund is not restricted from investing in any securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Advisors considers investments in these securities to be consistent with the Fund’s investment and green investment criteria objectives.

The Fund also invests in certain asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other securities that represent interests in assets such as, but not limited to, pools of mortgage loans, automobile loans or credit card receivables. These securities are typically issued by legal entities established specifically to hold assets and to issue debt obligations backed by those assets. Asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities are normally created or “sponsored” by banks or other institutions or by certain government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Advisors does not take into consideration whether the sponsor of an asset-backed security in which the Fund invests meets the green investment criteria. That is because asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of loans, and not of the ongoing business enterprise of the sponsor. It is therefore possible that the Fund could invest in an asset-backed or mortgage-backed security sponsored by a bank or other financial institution in which the Fund could not invest directly.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in credit default swaps or index credit default swaps primarily to hedge or manage risks associated with assets held by the Fund or to facilitate the implementation of portfolio strategies for the Fund.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Green Investment Risk—The risk that because the Fund’s green investment criteria and/or proprietary Impact framework may exclude securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons, the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use these criteria. In addition, because the Fund seeks to invest primarily in green investments, the value of Fund shares may be affected by events that adversely affect such investments, such as a decrease in governmental or other support for environmental initiatives, and may fluctuate more than that of a fund that does not invest primarily in green investments.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be 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 have lower overall liquidity 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 market countries.

·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.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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

Past performance

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.org.

[1] Estimates are for the current fiscal year.

[2] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.70% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.80% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks total return, primarily through current income, while giving special consideration to certain environmental criteria.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 between November 16, 2018 (inception date) and March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 31% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

31.00%

Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text]

rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates

Estimates are for the current fiscal year.

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. 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 bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, taxable municipal securities and mortgage-backed or other asset-backed securities. Generally, the Fund intends to invest in bonds issued by both domestic and foreign issuers; including foreign issuers from emerging market countries. While the Fund’s investments will generally be denominated in U.S. dollars, the Fund may also invest in non-dollar denominated instruments. The Fund may also invest in securities issued by U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises (“GSEs”) such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”). The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality or unrated securities of comparable quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund may also invest in securities having a variable or floating interest rate. The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any maturity or duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. Green Bond Index, was 5.14 years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund seeks to invest the substantial majority of its assets in “green” investments. “Green” investments include, but are not limited to, securities of companies that develop or provide products or services that seek to provide environmental solutions and/or support efforts to reduce their own environmental footprint; investments that support environmental projects; structured securities that are collateralized by assets supporting environmental themes; and securities that, in the opinion of the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), have no more than a negligible direct negative environmental impact, which may include securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies, and GSEs. The green investment criteria the Fund takes into consideration are non-fundamental investment policies. Such criteria may be changed without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders.

Advisors seeks to invest the Fund’s assets in fixed-income instruments according to TIAA’s proprietary Impact framework. The Fund’s overall design and investment strategy centers on rigorous and independent research analysis to help identify bonds with both favorable yields and compelling relative value, and positive environmental impact as it relates to each respective issuer’s and/or individual project’s use of proceeds. These investments provide access to the following environmental themes: 1) renewable energy and climate change (renewable energy projects, smart grid and other projects designed to make generation and transmission systems more efficient, and other projects which seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions); and 2) natural resources (land conservation, sustainable forestry and agriculture, remediation and redevelopment of polluted or contaminated sites, sustainable waste management projects, water infrastructure and other sustainable building projects).

The Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee (the “CGSR Committee”) of the Board of Trustees of the Trust (“Board of Trustees”) periodically reviews the green investment criteria used to evaluate securities held by the Fund. Advisors seeks to ensure that the Fund’s investments are consistent with its green investment criteria, but Advisors cannot guarantee that this will always be the case for every Fund investment. Investing on the basis of green investment criteria is qualitative and subjective by nature, and there can be no assurance that the criteria utilized by the Fund or any judgment exercised by the CGSR Committee or Advisors will reflect the beliefs or values of any particular investor.

The Fund is actively managed and does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, Advisors performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Subject to the green investment criteria described above, individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index when Advisors believes that the Fund can boost returns above that of the index.

The Fund is not restricted from investing in any securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Advisors considers investments in these securities to be consistent with the Fund’s investment and green investment criteria objectives.

The Fund also invests in certain asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other securities that represent interests in assets such as, but not limited to, pools of mortgage loans, automobile loans or credit card receivables. These securities are typically issued by legal entities established specifically to hold assets and to issue debt obligations backed by those assets. Asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities are normally created or “sponsored” by banks or other institutions or by certain government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Advisors does not take into consideration whether the sponsor of an asset-backed security in which the Fund invests meets the green investment criteria. That is because asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of loans, and not of the ongoing business enterprise of the sponsor. It is therefore possible that the Fund could invest in an asset-backed or mortgage-backed security sponsored by a bank or other financial institution in which the Fund could not invest directly.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in credit default swaps or index credit default swaps primarily to hedge or manage risks associated with assets held by the Fund or to facilitate the implementation of portfolio strategies for the Fund.

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:

·Green Investment Risk—The risk that because the Fund’s green investment criteria and/or proprietary Impact framework may exclude securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons, the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use these criteria. In addition, because the Fund seeks to invest primarily in green investments, the value of Fund shares may be affected by events that adversely affect such investments, such as a decrease in governmental or other support for environmental initiatives, and may fluctuate more than that of a fund that does not invest primarily in green investments.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be 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 have lower overall liquidity 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 market countries.

·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.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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]

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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.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.org

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund | 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

0.40%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.65%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.05%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.60%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.45%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 46

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

274

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

521

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,228

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund | Advisor 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

0.40%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.75%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.15%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.62%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.53%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 54

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

304

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

573

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,342

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund | 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

0.40%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.64%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.19%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.59%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.60%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 61

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

319

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

597

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,391

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund | 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

0.40%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.90%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.30%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.60%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.70%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 72

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

353

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

655

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,515

TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund | 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

0.40%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.88%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.53%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.73%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.80%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 82

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

412

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

765

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,761

[1] Estimates are for the current fiscal year.

[2] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.70% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.80% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks total return primarily through high current income and,

when consistent with its primary objective, capital appreciation.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Management fees		0.34%	0.34%	0.34%	0.34%	0.34%	0.34%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.02%	0.13%	0.02%	0.27%	0.04%	0.02%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.36%	0.47%	0.51%	0.61%	0.63%	0.36%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[1]						(0.36%)	[2]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.36%	0.47%	0.51%	0.61%	0.63%	none

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
1 year	$ 37	$ 48	$ 52	$ 62	$ 64	none
3 years	116	151	164	195	202	none
5 years	202	263	285	340	351	none
10 years	$ 456	$ 591	$ 640	$ 762	$ 786	none

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 45% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

The Fund invests primarily in lower-rated, higher-yielding fixed-income securities, such as domestic and foreign corporate bonds, debentures, loan participations and assignments and notes, as well as convertible and preferred securities. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in debt and other fixed-income securities rated lower than investment-grade (and their unrated equivalents) or other high-yielding debt securities. These are often called “junk bonds” and are speculative in nature. Most of these will be securities rated in the BB or B categories by S&P, or the Ba or B categories by Moody’s. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in the following types of instruments: payment-in-kind or deferred-interest obligations, defaulted securities, asset-backed securities, securities rated lower than B- or its equivalent by at least two rating agencies and securities having limited liquidity.

The Fund can make foreign investments, but the Fund does not expect such investments to exceed 20% of its assets under most circumstances. The Fund can also invest in U.S. Treasury and agency securities or other short-term instruments when other suitable investment opportunities are not available, or when Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) would like to build the Fund’s liquidity.

Over long periods of time, a broadly diversified portfolio of lower-rated, higher-yielding securities is designed to, net of capital losses, provide a higher net return than a similarly diversified portfolio of higher-rated, lower-yielding securities of similar duration. Advisors attempts to minimize the risks of investing in lower-rated securities by:

·Doing its own credit analysis (independent of the rating agencies). The Fund buys securities of issuers with a balance of operational and financial risks that Advisors believes make it likely that such issuers will be able to meet their financial obligations;

·Constructing a portfolio of securities diversified by industry, maturity, duration and credit quality; and

·Buying or selling particular securities to seek to take advantage of anticipated changes and trends in the economy and financial markets.

Advisors’ judgment of the value of any particular security is a function of its experience with lower-rated securities, evaluation of general economic and securities market conditions and the financial condition of the security’s issuer. Under some market conditions, the Fund may sacrifice potential yield in order to adopt a defensive posture designed to preserve capital.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies.

The benchmark index for the Fund is the ICE BofAML BB-B U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index.

Principal investment risks

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:

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Senior Loan Risk—Many senior loans present credit risk comparable to high-yield securities. The liquidation of the collateral backing a senior loan may not satisfy the borrower’s obligation to the Fund in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. Senior loans also expose the Fund to call risk and illiquid investments risk. The secondary market for senior loans can be limited. Trades can be infrequent and the values for senior loans may experience volatility. In some cases, negotiations for the sale or settlement of senior loans may require weeks to complete, which may impair the Fund’s ability to raise cash to satisfy redemptions, pay dividends, pay expenses or to take advantage of other investment opportunities in a timely manner. If an issuer of a senior loan prepays or redeems the loan prior to maturity, the Fund will have to reinvest the proceeds in other senior loans or instruments that may pay lower interest rates.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

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

Past performance

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† High-Yield Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 11.45%.

Best quarter: 17.76%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -5.30%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, 10 Years		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	(2.66%)	3.39%		9.48%		Mar. 31, 2006
Advisor Class	(2.74%)	3.31%	[1]	9.43%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	(2.71%)	3.26%		9.34%	[1]	Sep. 30, 2009
Retirement Class	(2.91%)	3.14%		9.20%		Mar. 31, 2006
Retail Class	(2.90%)	3.13%		9.21%		Mar. 31, 2006
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	(4.90%)	0.88%		6.68%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	(1.54%)	1.48%		6.39%
ICE BofAML BB-B U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	(2.04%)	3.87%		9.98%

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.40% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.75% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.40% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks total return primarily through high current income and,

Objective, Secondary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectiveSecondaryTextBlock

when consistent with its primary objective, capital appreciation.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 45% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

45.00%

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. 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 invests primarily in lower-rated, higher-yielding fixed-income securities, such as domestic and foreign corporate bonds, debentures, loan participations and assignments and notes, as well as convertible and preferred securities. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in debt and other fixed-income securities rated lower than investment-grade (and their unrated equivalents) or other high-yielding debt securities. These are often called “junk bonds” and are speculative in nature. Most of these will be securities rated in the BB or B categories by S&P, or the Ba or B categories by Moody’s. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in the following types of instruments: payment-in-kind or deferred-interest obligations, defaulted securities, asset-backed securities, securities rated lower than B- or its equivalent by at least two rating agencies and securities having limited liquidity.

The Fund can make foreign investments, but the Fund does not expect such investments to exceed 20% of its assets under most circumstances. The Fund can also invest in U.S. Treasury and agency securities or other short-term instruments when other suitable investment opportunities are not available, or when Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) would like to build the Fund’s liquidity.

Over long periods of time, a broadly diversified portfolio of lower-rated, higher-yielding securities is designed to, net of capital losses, provide a higher net return than a similarly diversified portfolio of higher-rated, lower-yielding securities of similar duration. Advisors attempts to minimize the risks of investing in lower-rated securities by:

·Doing its own credit analysis (independent of the rating agencies). The Fund buys securities of issuers with a balance of operational and financial risks that Advisors believes make it likely that such issuers will be able to meet their financial obligations;

·Constructing a portfolio of securities diversified by industry, maturity, duration and credit quality; and

·Buying or selling particular securities to seek to take advantage of anticipated changes and trends in the economy and financial markets.

Advisors’ judgment of the value of any particular security is a function of its experience with lower-rated securities, evaluation of general economic and securities market conditions and the financial condition of the security’s issuer. Under some market conditions, the Fund may sacrifice potential yield in order to adopt a defensive posture designed to preserve capital.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies.

The benchmark index for the Fund is the ICE BofAML BB-B U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index.

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:

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Senior Loan Risk—Many senior loans present credit risk comparable to high-yield securities. The liquidation of the collateral backing a senior loan may not satisfy the borrower’s obligation to the Fund in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal. Senior loans also expose the Fund to call risk and illiquid investments risk. The secondary market for senior loans can be limited. Trades can be infrequent and the values for senior loans may experience volatility. In some cases, negotiations for the sale or settlement of senior loans may require weeks to complete, which may impair the Fund’s ability to raise cash to satisfy redemptions, pay dividends, pay expenses or to take advantage of other investment opportunities in a timely manner. If an issuer of a senior loan prepays or redeems the loan prior to maturity, the Fund will have to reinvest the proceeds in other senior loans or instruments that may pay lower interest rates.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.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.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 (%)† High-Yield Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 11.45%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 17.76%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -5.30%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

11.45%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2009

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

17.76%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Dec. 31, 2018

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(5.30%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | ICE BofAML BB-B U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.04%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.87%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

9.98%

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | 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

0.34%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 37

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

116

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

202

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 456

Annual Return 2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

41.72%

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

14.61%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

6.14%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

14.35%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

6.16%

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

2.48%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

(3.72%)

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

16.45%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

5.65%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

(2.66%)

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.66%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.39%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

9.48%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(4.90%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.88%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

6.68%

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(1.54%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.48%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

6.39%

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | Advisor 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

0.34%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.13%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.47%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.47%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 48

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

151

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

263

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 591

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.74%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.31%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

9.43%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | 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

0.34%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.51%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.51%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 52

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

164

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

285

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 640

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.71%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.26%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

9.34%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 30, 2009

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | 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

0.34%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.27%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.61%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.61%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 62

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

195

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

340

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 762

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.91%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.14%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

9.20%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | 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

0.34%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.04%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.63%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.63%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 64

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

202

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

351

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 786

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.90%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.13%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

9.21%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF High-Yield Fund | Class W

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

0.34%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.36%)

^[1],[3]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

none

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.40% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.75% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.40% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[3] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks to provide inflation protection and income, primarily through investment in inflation-linked bonds.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class		Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Management fees		0.24%	0.24%		0.24%	0.24%	0.24%	0.24%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees					0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.02%	0.12%	[1]	0.02%	0.27%	0.09%	0.02%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.26%	0.36%		0.41%	0.51%	0.58%	0.26%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[2]							(0.26%)	[3]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.26%	0.36%		0.41%	0.51%	0.58%	none

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
1 year	$ 27	$ 37	$ 42	$ 52	$ 59	none
3 years	84	116	132	164	186	none
5 years	146	202	230	285	324	none
10 years	$ 331	$ 456	$ 518	$ 640	$ 726	none

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 21% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), invests at least 80% of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income securities whose principal value increases or decreases based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”), over the life of the security. Typically, the Fund will invest in U.S. Treasury Inflation-Indexed Securities (“TIIS”). The Fund can also invest in (1) other inflation-indexed bonds issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies, by corporations and other U.S. domiciled issuers, as well as foreign governments, and (2) money market instruments or other short-term securities. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

Like conventional bonds, inflation-indexed bonds generally pay interest at fixed intervals and return the principal at maturity. Unlike conventional bonds, an inflation-indexed bond’s principal or interest is adjusted periodically to reflect changes in a specified inflation index. Inflation-indexed bonds are designed to preserve purchasing power over the life of the bond while paying a “real” rate of interest (i.e., a return over and above the inflation rate). These bonds are generally issued at a fixed interest rate that is lower than that of conventional bonds of comparable maturity and quality, but they generally retain their value against inflation over time.

The principal amount of a TIIS bond is adjusted periodically for inflation using the CPI-U. Interest is paid twice a year. The interest rate is fixed, but the amount of each interest payment varies as the principal is adjusted for inflation. The principal amount of a TIIS instrument may diminish in times of deflation. However, the U.S. Treasury guarantees that the final principal payment at maturity is at least the original principal amount of the bond. The interest and principal components of the bonds may be “stripped” or sold separately. The Fund can buy or sell either component.

The Fund may also invest in inflation-indexed bonds issued or guaranteed by foreign governments and their agencies, as well as other foreign issuers. These investments are usually designed to track the inflation rate in the issuing country. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in inflation-linked bonds of foreign issuers are generally less than 20% of its assets.

The Fund’s benchmark index is the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) 1–10 Year Index (the “Index”). As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Index was 4.78 years. Although the Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration, typically, the Fund invests in corporate and foreign inflation-indexed bonds that are similar in duration and maturity to those of U.S. Government inflation-indexed bonds.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. In particular, the Fund may purchase and sell interest rate futures to attempt to manage duration and/or certain risks. The Fund also may invest in any fixed-income securities provided that no more than 5% of its assets are invested in fixed-income securities rated below investment-grade.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Special Risks for Inflation-Indexed Bonds—The risk that interest payments on, or market values of, inflation-indexed investments decline because of a decline in inflation (or deflation) or changes in investors’ and/or the market’s inflation expectations. In addition, inflation indices may not reflect the true rate of inflation.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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

Past performance

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Inflation-Linked Bond Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 5.04%.

Best quarter: 4.73%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. Worst quarter: -7.01%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, 10 Years		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	(0.49%)	1.32%		3.18%		Oct. 01, 2002
Advisor Class	(0.55%)	1.28%	[1]	3.16%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	(0.64%)	1.17%		3.03%	[1]	Sep. 30, 2009
Retirement Class	(0.73%)	1.08%		2.93%		Mar. 31, 2006
Retail Class	(0.82%)	1.01%		2.90%		Oct. 01, 2002
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	(1.52%)	0.60%		2.41%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	(0.29%)	0.69%		2.18%
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) 1-10 Year Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	(0.25%)	1.20%		3.06%

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.

[2] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[3] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks to provide inflation protection and income, primarily through investment in inflation-linked bonds.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 21% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

21.00%

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. 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’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), invests at least 80% of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income securities whose principal value increases or decreases based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”), over the life of the security. Typically, the Fund will invest in U.S. Treasury Inflation-Indexed Securities (“TIIS”). The Fund can also invest in (1) other inflation-indexed bonds issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies, by corporations and other U.S. domiciled issuers, as well as foreign governments, and (2) money market instruments or other short-term securities. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

Like conventional bonds, inflation-indexed bonds generally pay interest at fixed intervals and return the principal at maturity. Unlike conventional bonds, an inflation-indexed bond’s principal or interest is adjusted periodically to reflect changes in a specified inflation index. Inflation-indexed bonds are designed to preserve purchasing power over the life of the bond while paying a “real” rate of interest (i.e., a return over and above the inflation rate). These bonds are generally issued at a fixed interest rate that is lower than that of conventional bonds of comparable maturity and quality, but they generally retain their value against inflation over time.

The principal amount of a TIIS bond is adjusted periodically for inflation using the CPI-U. Interest is paid twice a year. The interest rate is fixed, but the amount of each interest payment varies as the principal is adjusted for inflation. The principal amount of a TIIS instrument may diminish in times of deflation. However, the U.S. Treasury guarantees that the final principal payment at maturity is at least the original principal amount of the bond. The interest and principal components of the bonds may be “stripped” or sold separately. The Fund can buy or sell either component.

The Fund may also invest in inflation-indexed bonds issued or guaranteed by foreign governments and their agencies, as well as other foreign issuers. These investments are usually designed to track the inflation rate in the issuing country. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in inflation-linked bonds of foreign issuers are generally less than 20% of its assets.

The Fund’s benchmark index is the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) 1–10 Year Index (the “Index”). As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Index was 4.78 years. Although the Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration, typically, the Fund invests in corporate and foreign inflation-indexed bonds that are similar in duration and maturity to those of U.S. Government inflation-indexed bonds.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. In particular, the Fund may purchase and sell interest rate futures to attempt to manage duration and/or certain risks. The Fund also may invest in any fixed-income securities provided that no more than 5% of its assets are invested in fixed-income securities rated below investment-grade.

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Special Risks for Inflation-Indexed Bonds—The risk that interest payments on, or market values of, inflation-indexed investments decline because of a decline in inflation (or deflation) or changes in investors’ and/or the market’s inflation expectations. In addition, inflation indices may not reflect the true rate of inflation.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.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.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 (%)† Inflation-Linked Bond Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 5.04%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 4.73%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. Worst quarter: -7.01%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

5.04%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2011

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

4.73%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2013

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(7.01%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) 1-10 Year Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.25%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.20%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.06%

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | 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

0.24%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.26%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.26%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 27

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

84

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

146

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 331

Annual Return 2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

9.54%

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

6.11%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

13.34%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

6.51%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

(8.75%)

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

3.42%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

(1.62%)

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

3.65%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

1.74%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

(0.49%)

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.49%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.32%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.18%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Oct. 01, 2002

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(1.52%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.60%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.41%

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.29%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.69%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.18%

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | Advisor 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

0.24%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.12%

^[2]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.36%

Expenses Restated to Reflect Current [Text]

rr_ExpensesRestatedToReflectCurrent

Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 37

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

116

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

202

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 456

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.55%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.28%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.16%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | 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

0.24%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.41%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.41%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 42

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

132

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

230

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 518

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.64%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.17%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

3.03%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 30, 2009

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | 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

0.24%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.27%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.51%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.51%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 52

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

164

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

285

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 640

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.73%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.08%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.93%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | 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

0.24%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.09%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.58%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

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

186

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

324

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 726

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.82%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.01%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.90%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Oct. 01, 2002

TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Fund | Class W

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

0.24%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.26%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.26%)

^[1],[4]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

none

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.

[3] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[4] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks current income while giving special consideration to certain environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
Management fees		0.30%	0.30%	0.30%	0.30%	0.30%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses	[1]	0.57%	0.67%	0.57%	0.82%	0.78%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.87%	0.97%	1.02%	1.12%	1.33%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[2]	(0.52%)	(0.54%)	(0.52%)	(0.52%)	(0.63%)
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.35%	0.43%	0.50%	0.60%	0.70%

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
1 year	$ 36	$ 44	$ 51	$ 61	$ 72
3 years	226	255	273	304	359
5 years	431	484	513	567	668
10 years	$ 1,024	$ 1,140	$ 1,201	$ 1,317	$ 1,546

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 between November 16, 2018 (inception date) and March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 39% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in fixed-income investments with average maturities or average lives of less than 5 years. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. Although the Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration, the duration of the Fund’s portfolio typically ranges between zero and three years. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1–3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index, was 1.82 years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The term “duration” is defined in the Glossary section in the non-summary portion of the Prospectus.

The Fund is actively managed and does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Subject to the ESG and Impact criteria described below, individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index, when Advisors believes that the Fund can boost returns above that of the index.

The Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities issued by corporate entities or certain foreign governments are subject to certain ESG criteria. The ESG criteria are implemented based on data provided by independent research vendor(s). All corporate issuers must meet or exceed minimum ESG performance standards to be eligible for investment by the Fund. The evaluation process favors companies with leadership in ESG performance relative to their peers. Typically, environmental assessment categories include climate change, natural resource use, waste management and environmental opportunities. Social evaluation categories include human capital, product safety and social opportunities. Governance assessment categories include corporate governance, business ethics and government & public policy. How well companies adhere to international norms and principles and involvement in major ESG controversies (examples of which may relate to the environment, customers, human rights & community, labor rights & supply chain, and governance) are other considerations.

The ESG evaluation process is conducted on an industry-specific basis and involves the identification of key performance indicators, which are given more or less relative weight compared to the broader range of potential assessment categories. Concerns in one area do not automatically eliminate an issuer from being an eligible Fund investment. When ESG concerns exist, the evaluation process gives careful consideration to how companies address the risks and opportunities they face in the context of their sector or industry and relative to their peers. The Fund will not generally invest in companies significantly involved in certain business activities, including but not limited to, the production of alcohol, tobacco, military weapons, firearms, nuclear power and gambling products and services. While Advisors may invest in corporate and foreign government issuers that meet these criteria, it is not required to invest in every issuer that meets these criteria. The ESG criteria the Fund takes into consideration are non-fundamental investment policies. Such criteria and the universe of investments that the Fund utilizes may be changed without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders.

The Fund is not restricted from investing in any securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Advisors considers investments in these securities to be consistent with the Fund’s investment and Impact objectives.

The Fund also invests in certain asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other securities that represent interests in assets such as pools of mortgage loans, automobile loans or credit card receivables. These securities are typically issued by legal entities established specifically to hold assets and to issue debt obligations backed by those assets. Asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities are normally created or “sponsored” by banks or other institutions or by certain government-sponsored enterprises such as the Federal National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Advisors does not take into consideration whether the sponsor of an asset-backed security in which the Fund invests meets the ESG criteria. That is because asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of loans, and not of the ongoing business enterprise of the sponsor. It is therefore possible that the Fund could invest in an asset-backed or mortgage-backed security sponsored by a bank or other financial institution in which the Fund could not invest directly.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee (the “CGSR Committee”) of the Board of Trustees of the Trust (“Board of Trustees”) reviews the ESG criteria used to evaluate securities issued by corporate and foreign government issuers held by the Fund and reviews the ESG vendor(s) of that service. Advisors seeks to ensure that the Fund’s investments are consistent with its ESG criteria, but Advisors cannot guarantee that this will always be the case for every Fund investment issued by a corporate entity or by a foreign government or agency. Consistent with its responsibilities, the CGSR Committee evaluates options for implementing the Fund’s ESG investment criteria and monitors the ESG vendors selected to supply the ESG eligible universe. Advisors has the right to change the ESG vendor(s) at any time and to add to the number of vendors providing the universe of eligible companies. Investing on the basis of ESG criteria is qualitative and subjective by nature, and there can be no assurance that the ESG criteria utilized by the Fund’s ESG vendor(s) or any judgment exercised by the CGSR Committee or Advisors will reflect the beliefs or values of any particular investor.

Additionally, Advisors invests a portion of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income instruments according to TIAA’s proprietary Impact framework. These investments provide direct exposure to issuers and/or individual projects with social or environmental benefits. Within this Impact allocation, the Fund seeks opportunities to invest in publicly traded fixed-income securities that finance initiatives in areas including affordable housing, community and economic development, renewable energy and climate change, and natural resources. These investments will be selected based on the same financial criteria used by Advisors in selecting the Fund’s other fixed-income investments.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in credit default swaps or index credit default swaps primarily to hedge or manage risks associated with assets held by the Fund or to facilitate the implementation of portfolio strategies for the Fund. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 25% of the Fund’s assets.

Principal investment risks

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:

·ESG Criteria Risk—The risk that because the Fund’s ESG criteria and/or proprietary Impact framework exclude securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons, the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use these criteria.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets.

Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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

Past performance

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.org.

[1] Estimates are for the current fiscal year.

[2] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.70% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks current income while giving special consideration to certain environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 between November 16, 2018 (inception date) and March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 39% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

39.00%

Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text]

rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates

Estimates are for the current fiscal year.

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. 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 fixed-income investments with average maturities or average lives of less than 5 years. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. Although the Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration, the duration of the Fund’s portfolio typically ranges between zero and three years. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1–3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index, was 1.82 years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The term “duration” is defined in the Glossary section in the non-summary portion of the Prospectus.

The Fund is actively managed and does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Subject to the ESG and Impact criteria described below, individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index, when Advisors believes that the Fund can boost returns above that of the index.

The Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities issued by corporate entities or certain foreign governments are subject to certain ESG criteria. The ESG criteria are implemented based on data provided by independent research vendor(s). All corporate issuers must meet or exceed minimum ESG performance standards to be eligible for investment by the Fund. The evaluation process favors companies with leadership in ESG performance relative to their peers. Typically, environmental assessment categories include climate change, natural resource use, waste management and environmental opportunities. Social evaluation categories include human capital, product safety and social opportunities. Governance assessment categories include corporate governance, business ethics and government & public policy. How well companies adhere to international norms and principles and involvement in major ESG controversies (examples of which may relate to the environment, customers, human rights & community, labor rights & supply chain, and governance) are other considerations.

The ESG evaluation process is conducted on an industry-specific basis and involves the identification of key performance indicators, which are given more or less relative weight compared to the broader range of potential assessment categories. Concerns in one area do not automatically eliminate an issuer from being an eligible Fund investment. When ESG concerns exist, the evaluation process gives careful consideration to how companies address the risks and opportunities they face in the context of their sector or industry and relative to their peers. The Fund will not generally invest in companies significantly involved in certain business activities, including but not limited to, the production of alcohol, tobacco, military weapons, firearms, nuclear power and gambling products and services. While Advisors may invest in corporate and foreign government issuers that meet these criteria, it is not required to invest in every issuer that meets these criteria. The ESG criteria the Fund takes into consideration are non-fundamental investment policies. Such criteria and the universe of investments that the Fund utilizes may be changed without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders.

The Fund is not restricted from investing in any securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Advisors considers investments in these securities to be consistent with the Fund’s investment and Impact objectives.

The Fund also invests in certain asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other securities that represent interests in assets such as pools of mortgage loans, automobile loans or credit card receivables. These securities are typically issued by legal entities established specifically to hold assets and to issue debt obligations backed by those assets. Asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities are normally created or “sponsored” by banks or other institutions or by certain government-sponsored enterprises such as the Federal National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Advisors does not take into consideration whether the sponsor of an asset-backed security in which the Fund invests meets the ESG criteria. That is because asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of loans, and not of the ongoing business enterprise of the sponsor. It is therefore possible that the Fund could invest in an asset-backed or mortgage-backed security sponsored by a bank or other financial institution in which the Fund could not invest directly.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee (the “CGSR Committee”) of the Board of Trustees of the Trust (“Board of Trustees”) reviews the ESG criteria used to evaluate securities issued by corporate and foreign government issuers held by the Fund and reviews the ESG vendor(s) of that service. Advisors seeks to ensure that the Fund’s investments are consistent with its ESG criteria, but Advisors cannot guarantee that this will always be the case for every Fund investment issued by a corporate entity or by a foreign government or agency. Consistent with its responsibilities, the CGSR Committee evaluates options for implementing the Fund’s ESG investment criteria and monitors the ESG vendors selected to supply the ESG eligible universe. Advisors has the right to change the ESG vendor(s) at any time and to add to the number of vendors providing the universe of eligible companies. Investing on the basis of ESG criteria is qualitative and subjective by nature, and there can be no assurance that the ESG criteria utilized by the Fund’s ESG vendor(s) or any judgment exercised by the CGSR Committee or Advisors will reflect the beliefs or values of any particular investor.

Additionally, Advisors invests a portion of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income instruments according to TIAA’s proprietary Impact framework. These investments provide direct exposure to issuers and/or individual projects with social or environmental benefits. Within this Impact allocation, the Fund seeks opportunities to invest in publicly traded fixed-income securities that finance initiatives in areas including affordable housing, community and economic development, renewable energy and climate change, and natural resources. These investments will be selected based on the same financial criteria used by Advisors in selecting the Fund’s other fixed-income investments.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in credit default swaps or index credit default swaps primarily to hedge or manage risks associated with assets held by the Fund or to facilitate the implementation of portfolio strategies for the Fund. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 25% of the Fund’s assets.

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:

·ESG Criteria Risk—The risk that because the Fund’s ESG criteria and/or proprietary Impact framework exclude securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons, the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use these criteria.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets.

Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

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

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.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.org

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund | 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

0.30%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.57%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.87%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.52%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.35%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 36

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

226

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

431

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,024

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund | Advisor 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

0.30%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.67%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.97%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.54%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.43%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 44

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

255

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

484

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,140

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund | 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

0.30%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.57%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.02%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.52%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.50%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 51

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

273

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

513

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,201

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund | 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

0.30%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.82%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.12%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.52%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.60%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 61

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

304

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

567

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,317

TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund | 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

0.30%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.78%

^[1]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

1.33%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.63%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.70%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 72

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

359

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

668

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,546

[1] Estimates are for the current fiscal year.

[2] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.35% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.60% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.70% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

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TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks current income.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Management fees		0.25%	0.25%	0.25%	0.25%	0.25%	0.25%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.02%	0.15%	0.02%	0.27%	0.08%	0.02%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.27%	0.40%	0.42%	0.52%	0.58%	0.27%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[1]						(0.27%)	[2]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.27%	0.40%	0.42%	0.52%	0.58%	none

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
1 year	$ 28	$ 41	$ 43	$ 53	$ 59	none
3 years	87	128	135	167	186	none
5 years	152	224	235	291	324	none
10 years	$ 343	$ 505	$ 530	$ 653	$ 726	none

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 118% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in U.S. Treasury and agency securities and investment-grade fixed-income investments with an average maturity or average lives of less than 5 years. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund may overweight or underweight individual securities or sectors as compared to their weight in the Fund’s benchmark index for a variety of reasons, such as when the Fund’s investment adviser, Teacher’s Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), chooses sectors or issues that it believes offer the potential for superior returns. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1–3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index, was 1.82 years. Although the Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any maturity, the duration of the Fund’s portfolio typically ranges between one and three years. The Fund also has a policy of maintaining a dollar weighted average maturity of portfolio holdings of no more than three years.

The Fund can make foreign investments, including investments in emerging market countries and non-dollar-denominated instruments, but the Fund does not expect such investments to exceed 25% of its assets under most circumstances.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. In particular, the Fund may purchase and sell interest rate futures to attempt to manage duration and/or certain risks.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

·Portfolio Turnover Risk—Depending on market and other conditions, the Fund may experience high portfolio turnover, which may result in greater transactional expenses, such as brokerage commissions, bid-ask spreads, or dealer mark-ups, and capital gains (which could increase taxes and, consequently, reduce returns).

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

Past performance

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Short-Term Bond Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 2.99%.

Best quarter: 3.13%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -1.24%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, 10 Years		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	1.46%	1.47%		2.44%		Mar. 31, 2006
Advisor Class	1.40%	1.45%	[1]	2.43%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	1.31%	1.32%		2.31%	[1]	Sep. 30, 2009
Retirement Class	1.21%	1.22%		2.19%		Mar. 31, 2006
Retail Class	1.15%	1.16%		2.16%		Mar. 31, 2006
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	0.46%	0.69%		1.62%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	0.86%	0.78%		1.56%
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	1.60%	1.03%		1.52%

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks 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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 118% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

118.00%

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. 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 U.S. Treasury and agency securities and investment-grade fixed-income investments with an average maturity or average lives of less than 5 years. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund may overweight or underweight individual securities or sectors as compared to their weight in the Fund’s benchmark index for a variety of reasons, such as when the Fund’s investment adviser, Teacher’s Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”), chooses sectors or issues that it believes offer the potential for superior returns. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1–3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index, was 1.82 years. Although the Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any maturity, the duration of the Fund’s portfolio typically ranges between one and three years. The Fund also has a policy of maintaining a dollar weighted average maturity of portfolio holdings of no more than three years.

The Fund can make foreign investments, including investments in emerging market countries and non-dollar-denominated instruments, but the Fund does not expect such investments to exceed 25% of its assets under most circumstances.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. In particular, the Fund may purchase and sell interest rate futures to attempt to manage duration and/or certain risks.

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:

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

·Portfolio Turnover Risk—Depending on market and other conditions, the Fund may experience high portfolio turnover, which may result in greater transactional expenses, such as brokerage commissions, bid-ask spreads, or dealer mark-ups, and capital gains (which could increase taxes and, consequently, reduce returns).

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.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.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 (%)† Short-Term Bond Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 2.99%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 3.13%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -1.24%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

2.99%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2009

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

3.13%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2013

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(1.24%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.60%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.03%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

1.52%

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | 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

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.27%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.27%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 28

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

87

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

152

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 343

Annual Return 2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

5.71%

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

4.78%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

2.62%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

3.73%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

0.35%

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

1.01%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

0.96%

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

2.07%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

1.88%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

1.46%

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.46%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.47%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.44%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.46%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.69%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

1.62%

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.86%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.78%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

1.56%

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | Advisor 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

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.15%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.40%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.40%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 41

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

128

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

224

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 505

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.40%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.45%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.43%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | 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

0.25%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.42%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.42%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 43

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

135

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

235

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 530

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.31%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.32%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.31%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 30, 2009

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | 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

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.27%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.52%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.52%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 53

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

167

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

291

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 653

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.21%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.22%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.19%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | 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

0.25%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.08%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.58%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

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

186

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

324

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 726

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.15%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

1.16%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

2.16%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Fund | Class W

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

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.02%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.27%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.27%)

^[1],[3]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

none

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.45% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[3] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks total return that corresponds with the total return of a short-term U.S. investment-grade bond market index.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Management fees		0.07%	0.07%	0.07%	0.07%	0.07%	0.07%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.08%	0.22%	0.09%	0.33%	0.26%	0.07%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.15%	0.29%	0.31%	0.40%	0.58%	0.14%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[1]	(0.03%)	(0.03%)	(0.04%)	(0.03%)	(0.14%)	(0.14%)	[2]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.12%	0.26%	0.27%	0.37%	0.44%	none

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
1 year	$ 12	$ 27	$ 28	$ 38	$ 45	none
3 years	45	90	96	125	172	none
5 years	82	160	170	221	310	none
10 years	$ 189	$ 365	$ 389	$ 502	$ 712	none

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 61% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds within its benchmark and portfolio tracking index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1–3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index (the “Index”). The Fund uses a sampling technique to create a portfolio that closely matches the overall investment characteristics of the Index (for example, duration, sector diversification and credit quality) without investing in all of the securities in the Index. At times the Fund may purchase securities not held in the Index, but which Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) believes have similar investment characteristics to securities held in its index. Generally, the Fund intends to invest in a wide spectrum of public, investment-grade, taxable debt securities denominated in U.S. dollars including United States treasury debt, government-related debt, and corporate issues. The Fund has a policy of maintaining a dollar weighted average maturity of no more than three years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The securities purchased by the Fund will mainly be high-quality instruments rated in the top four credit categories by Moody’s or S&P or deemed to be of the same quality by Advisors using its own credit quality analysis. The Fund may continue to hold instruments that were rated as high-quality when purchased, but which subsequently are downgraded to below-investment-grade status or have their ratings withdrawn by one or more rating agencies.

Because the return of the Index is not reduced by investment and other operating expenses, the Fund’s ability to match the Index is negatively affected by the costs of buying and selling securities, as well as other fees and expenses. The use of this index by the Fund is not a fundamental policy of the Fund and may be changed without shareholder approval.

The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 20% of the Fund’s assets.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·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.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Index Risk—The risk that the Fund’s performance may not correspond to its benchmark index for any period of time and may underperform such index or the overall financial market. Additionally, to the extent that the Fund’s investments vary from the composition of its benchmark index, the Fund’s performance could potentially vary from the index’s performance to a greater extent than if the Fund merely attempted to replicate the index.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

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

Past performance

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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Short-Term Bond Index Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 2.63%.

Best quarter: 1.09%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Worst quarter: -0.54%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, Since Inception		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	1.49%	0.91%		Aug. 07, 2015
Advisor Class	1.35%	0.82%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	1.34%	0.75%		Aug. 07, 2015
Retirement Class	1.24%	0.66%		Aug. 07, 2015
Retail Class	1.14%	0.57%		Aug. 07, 2015
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	0.67%	0.33%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	0.88%	0.44%
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	1.60%	1.09%	[2]

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.12% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.27% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.27% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.37% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.47% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.12% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor Class that is prior to its inception date is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor Class. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[2] Performance is calculated from the inception date of the Institutional Class.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks total return that corresponds with the total return of a short-term U.S. investment-grade bond market index.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 61% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

61.00%

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. 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 bonds within its benchmark and portfolio tracking index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1–3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index (the “Index”). The Fund uses a sampling technique to create a portfolio that closely matches the overall investment characteristics of the Index (for example, duration, sector diversification and credit quality) without investing in all of the securities in the Index. At times the Fund may purchase securities not held in the Index, but which Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) believes have similar investment characteristics to securities held in its index. Generally, the Fund intends to invest in a wide spectrum of public, investment-grade, taxable debt securities denominated in U.S. dollars including United States treasury debt, government-related debt, and corporate issues. The Fund has a policy of maintaining a dollar weighted average maturity of no more than three years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The securities purchased by the Fund will mainly be high-quality instruments rated in the top four credit categories by Moody’s or S&P or deemed to be of the same quality by Advisors using its own credit quality analysis. The Fund may continue to hold instruments that were rated as high-quality when purchased, but which subsequently are downgraded to below-investment-grade status or have their ratings withdrawn by one or more rating agencies.

Because the return of the Index is not reduced by investment and other operating expenses, the Fund’s ability to match the Index is negatively affected by the costs of buying and selling securities, as well as other fees and expenses. The use of this index by the Fund is not a fundamental policy of the Fund and may be changed without shareholder approval.

The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 20% of the Fund’s assets.

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:

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·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.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Index Risk—The risk that the Fund’s performance may not correspond to its benchmark index for any period of time and may underperform such index or the overall financial market. Additionally, to the extent that the Fund’s investments vary from the composition of its benchmark index, the Fund’s performance could potentially vary from the index’s performance to a greater extent than if the Fund merely attempted to replicate the index.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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 an 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.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.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 (%)† Short-Term Bond Index Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 2.63%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 1.09%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Worst quarter: -0.54%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

2.63%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Dec. 31, 2018

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

1.09%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Dec. 31, 2016

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(0.54%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.60%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

1.09%

^[1]

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | 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

0.07%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.08%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.15%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.03%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.12%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 12

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

45

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

82

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 189

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

0.98%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

0.69%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

1.49%

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.49%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

0.91%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Aug. 07, 2015

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.67%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

0.33%

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.88%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

0.44%

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | Advisor 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

0.07%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.22%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.29%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.03%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.26%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 27

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

90

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

160

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 365

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.35%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

0.82%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | 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

0.07%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.09%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.31%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.04%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.27%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 28

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

96

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

170

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 389

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.34%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

0.75%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Aug. 07, 2015

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | 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

0.07%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.33%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.40%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.03%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.37%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 38

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

125

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

221

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 502

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.24%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

0.66%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Aug. 07, 2015

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | 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

0.07%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.26%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.58%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.14%)

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.44%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 45

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

172

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

310

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 712

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.14%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

0.57%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Aug. 07, 2015

TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond Index Fund | Class W

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

0.07%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.07%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.14%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.14%)

^[2],[4]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

none

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

[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, LLC, 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) 0.12% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.27% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.27% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.37% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.47% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.12% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[3] The performance shown for the Advisor Class that is prior to its inception date is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor Class. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[4] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks total return, primarily through current income, while giving special consideration to certain environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
Management fees		0.34%	0.34%	0.34%	0.34%	0.34%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.03%	0.10%	0.06%	0.28%	0.06%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.37%	0.44%	0.55%	0.62%	0.65%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[1]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.37%	0.44%	0.55%	0.62%	0.65%

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
1 year	$ 38	$ 45	$ 56	$ 63	$ 66
3 years	119	141	176	199	208
5 years	208	246	307	346	362
10 years	$ 468	$ 555	$ 689	$ 774	$ 810

Portfolio turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 90% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, taxable municipal securities and mortgage-backed or other asset-backed securities. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, was 5.66 years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund is actively managed and does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Subject to the ESG criteria described below, individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index, when Advisors believes that the Fund can boost returns above that of the index.

The Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities issued by corporate entities or certain foreign governments are subject to certain ESG criteria. The ESG criteria are implemented based on data provided by independent research vendor(s). All corporate issuers must meet or exceed minimum ESG performance standards to be eligible for investment by the Fund. The evaluation process favors companies with leadership in ESG performance relative to their peers. Typically, environmental assessment categories include climate change, natural resource use, waste management and environmental opportunities. Social evaluation categories include human capital, product safety and social opportunities. Governance assessment categories include corporate governance, business ethics and government & public policy. How well companies adhere to international norms and principles and involvement in major ESG controversies (examples of which may relate to the environment, customers, human rights & community, labor rights & supply chain, and governance) are other considerations.

The ESG evaluation process is conducted on an industry-specific basis and involves the identification of key performance indicators, which are given more or less relative weight compared to the broader range of potential assessment categories. Concerns in one area do not automatically eliminate an issuer from being an eligible Fund investment. When ESG concerns exist, the evaluation process gives careful consideration to how companies address the risks and opportunities they face in the context of their sector or industry and relative to their peers. The Fund will not generally invest in companies significantly involved in certain business activities, including but not limited to, the production of alcohol, tobacco, military weapons, firearms, nuclear power and gambling products and services. While Advisors may invest in corporate and foreign government issuers that meet these criteria, it is not required to invest in every issuer that meets these criteria. The ESG criteria the Fund takes into consideration are non-fundamental investment policies. Such criteria and the universe of investments that the Fund utilizes may be changed without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders.

The Fund is not restricted from investing in any securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Advisors considers investments in these securities to be consistent with the Fund’s investment and social objectives.

The Fund also invests in certain asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other securities that represent interests in assets such as pools of mortgage loans, automobile loans or credit card receivables. These securities are typically issued by legal entities established specifically to hold assets and to issue debt obligations backed by those assets. Asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities are normally created or “sponsored” by banks or other institutions or by certain government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Advisors does not take into consideration whether the sponsor of an asset-backed security in which the Fund invests meets the ESG criteria. That is because asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of loans, and not of the ongoing business enterprise of the sponsor. It is therefore possible that the Fund could invest in an asset-backed or mortgage-backed security sponsored by a bank or other financial institution in which the Fund could not invest directly.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee (the “CGSR Committee”) of the Board of Trustees of the Trust (“Board of Trustees”) reviews the ESG criteria used to evaluate securities issued by corporate and foreign government issuers held by the Fund and approves the ESG vendor of that service. Advisors seeks to ensure that the Fund’s investments in securities issued by corporate and foreign government issuers are consistent with its ESG criteria, but Advisors cannot guarantee that this will always be the case for every Fund investment issued by a corporate entity or by a foreign government or agency. Consistent with its responsibilities, the CGSR Committee evaluates options for implementing the Fund’s ESG investment criteria and monitors the ESG vendors selected to supply the ESG-eligible universe. Advisors has the right to change the ESG vendor(s) at any time and to add to the number of vendors providing the universe of eligible companies. Investing on the basis of ESG criteria is qualitative and subjective by nature, and there can be no assurance that the ESG criteria utilized by the Fund’s ESG vendor(s) or any judgment exercised by the CGSR Committee or Advisors will reflect the beliefs or values of any particular investor.

Additionally, Advisors invests a portion of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income instruments according to TIAA’s proprietary Impact framework. As of March 31, 2019, these investments were 35.7% of the portfolio. These investments provide direct exposure to issuers and/or individual projects with social or environmental benefits. Within this Impact allocation, the Fund seeks opportunities to invest in publicly traded fixed-income securities that finance initiatives in areas including affordable housing, community and economic development, renewable energy and climate change, and natural resources. These investments will be selected based on the same financial criteria used by Advisors in selecting the Fund’s other fixed-income investments.

The Fund may also use a trading technique called “mortgage rolls” or “dollar rolls” in which the Fund “rolls over” an investment in a mortgage-backed security before its settlement date in exchange for a similar security with a later settlement date.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 25% of the Fund’s assets.

Principal investment risks

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:

·ESG Criteria Risk—The risk that because the Fund’s ESG criteria and/or proprietary Impact framework exclude securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons, the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use these criteria.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Mortgage Roll Risk—The risk that Advisors will not correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates, which will diminish the Fund’s performance.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

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

Past performance

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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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 an 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Social Choice Bond Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 6.05%.

Best quarter: 2.80%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. Worst quarter: -2.59%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, Since Inception		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	0.33%	3.56%		2.82%		Sep. 21, 2012
Advisor Class	0.27%	3.51%	[1]	2.79%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	0.16%	3.42%		2.68%		Sep. 21, 2012
Retirement Class	0.08%	3.30%		2.57%		Sep. 21, 2012
Retail Class	0.06%	3.27%		2.53%		Sep. 21, 2012
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	(0.84%)	2.29%		1.66%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	0.19%	2.16%		1.64%
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	0.01%	2.52%		1.76%	[2]

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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.40% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.75% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor Class that is prior to its inception date is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor Class. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[2] Performance is calculated from the inception date of the Institutional Class.

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Label

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TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund

Risk/Return:

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Risk/Return [Heading]

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TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund

Objective [Heading]

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Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

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The Fund seeks total return, primarily through current income, while giving special consideration to certain environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria.

Expense [Heading]

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Fees and expenses

Expense Narrative [Text Block]

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This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

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SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Operating Expenses Caption [Text]

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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

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Jul. 31, 2020

Portfolio Turnover [Heading]

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Portfolio turnover

Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]

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The Fund pays transaction costs 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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 90% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

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90.00%

Expense Example [Heading]

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Example

Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]

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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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Strategy [Heading]

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Principal investment strategies

Strategy Narrative [Text Block]

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Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds. For these purposes, bonds include fixed-income securities of all types. The Fund primarily invests in a broad range of investment-grade bonds and fixed-income securities, including, but not limited to, U.S. Government securities, corporate bonds, taxable municipal securities and mortgage-backed or other asset-backed securities. The Fund may also invest in other fixed-income securities, including those of non-investment-grade quality (usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds”). Securities of non-investment-grade quality are speculative in nature. The Fund may invest in fixed-income securities of any duration. As of May 31, 2019, the duration of the Fund’s benchmark index, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, was 5.66 years. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

The Fund is actively managed and does not rely exclusively on rating agencies when making investment decisions. Instead, the Fund’s investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”) performs its own credit analysis, paying particular attention to economic trends and other market events. Subject to the ESG criteria described below, individual securities or sectors may be overweighted or underweighted relative to the Fund’s benchmark index, when Advisors believes that the Fund can boost returns above that of the index.

The Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities issued by corporate entities or certain foreign governments are subject to certain ESG criteria. The ESG criteria are implemented based on data provided by independent research vendor(s). All corporate issuers must meet or exceed minimum ESG performance standards to be eligible for investment by the Fund. The evaluation process favors companies with leadership in ESG performance relative to their peers. Typically, environmental assessment categories include climate change, natural resource use, waste management and environmental opportunities. Social evaluation categories include human capital, product safety and social opportunities. Governance assessment categories include corporate governance, business ethics and government & public policy. How well companies adhere to international norms and principles and involvement in major ESG controversies (examples of which may relate to the environment, customers, human rights & community, labor rights & supply chain, and governance) are other considerations.

The ESG evaluation process is conducted on an industry-specific basis and involves the identification of key performance indicators, which are given more or less relative weight compared to the broader range of potential assessment categories. Concerns in one area do not automatically eliminate an issuer from being an eligible Fund investment. When ESG concerns exist, the evaluation process gives careful consideration to how companies address the risks and opportunities they face in the context of their sector or industry and relative to their peers. The Fund will not generally invest in companies significantly involved in certain business activities, including but not limited to, the production of alcohol, tobacco, military weapons, firearms, nuclear power and gambling products and services. While Advisors may invest in corporate and foreign government issuers that meet these criteria, it is not required to invest in every issuer that meets these criteria. The ESG criteria the Fund takes into consideration are non-fundamental investment policies. Such criteria and the universe of investments that the Fund utilizes may be changed without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders.

The Fund is not restricted from investing in any securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities. Advisors considers investments in these securities to be consistent with the Fund’s investment and social objectives.

The Fund also invests in certain asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and other securities that represent interests in assets such as pools of mortgage loans, automobile loans or credit card receivables. These securities are typically issued by legal entities established specifically to hold assets and to issue debt obligations backed by those assets. Asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities are normally created or “sponsored” by banks or other institutions or by certain government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Advisors does not take into consideration whether the sponsor of an asset-backed security in which the Fund invests meets the ESG criteria. That is because asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of loans, and not of the ongoing business enterprise of the sponsor. It is therefore possible that the Fund could invest in an asset-backed or mortgage-backed security sponsored by a bank or other financial institution in which the Fund could not invest directly.

The Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities can include pass-through securities sold by private, governmental and government-related organizations and collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”). Mortgage pass-through securities are created when mortgages are pooled together and interests in the pool are sold to investors. The cash flow from the underlying mortgages is “passed through” to investors in periodic principal and interest payments. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages from which payments of principal and interest are dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on the CMO.

The Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee (the “CGSR Committee”) of the Board of Trustees of the Trust (“Board of Trustees”) reviews the ESG criteria used to evaluate securities issued by corporate and foreign government issuers held by the Fund and approves the ESG vendor of that service. Advisors seeks to ensure that the Fund’s investments in securities issued by corporate and foreign government issuers are consistent with its ESG criteria, but Advisors cannot guarantee that this will always be the case for every Fund investment issued by a corporate entity or by a foreign government or agency. Consistent with its responsibilities, the CGSR Committee evaluates options for implementing the Fund’s ESG investment criteria and monitors the ESG vendors selected to supply the ESG-eligible universe. Advisors has the right to change the ESG vendor(s) at any time and to add to the number of vendors providing the universe of eligible companies. Investing on the basis of ESG criteria is qualitative and subjective by nature, and there can be no assurance that the ESG criteria utilized by the Fund’s ESG vendor(s) or any judgment exercised by the CGSR Committee or Advisors will reflect the beliefs or values of any particular investor.

Additionally, Advisors invests a portion of the Fund’s assets in fixed-income instruments according to TIAA’s proprietary Impact framework. As of March 31, 2019, these investments were 35.7% of the portfolio. These investments provide direct exposure to issuers and/or individual projects with social or environmental benefits. Within this Impact allocation, the Fund seeks opportunities to invest in publicly traded fixed-income securities that finance initiatives in areas including affordable housing, community and economic development, renewable energy and climate change, and natural resources. These investments will be selected based on the same financial criteria used by Advisors in selecting the Fund’s other fixed-income investments.

The Fund may also use a trading technique called “mortgage rolls” or “dollar rolls” in which the Fund “rolls over” an investment in a mortgage-backed security before its settlement date in exchange for a similar security with a later settlement date.

The Fund may also engage in relative value trading, a strategy in which the Fund reallocates assets across different sectors and maturities. Relative value trading is designed to enhance the Fund’s returns but increases the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures, options, swaps, forwards and other fixed-income derivative instruments to carry out the Fund’s investment strategies. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities, including emerging markets fixed-income securities and non-dollar-denominated instruments. Under most circumstances, the Fund’s investments in fixed-income securities of foreign issuers constitute less than 25% of the Fund’s assets.

Risk [Heading]

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Principal investment risks

Risk Narrative [Text Block]

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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:

·ESG Criteria Risk—The risk that because the Fund’s ESG criteria and/or proprietary Impact framework exclude securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons, the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use these criteria.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·Prepayment Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans sooner than expected, forcing the Fund to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates and resulting in a decline in income.

·Extension Risk—The risk that, during periods of rising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their mortgage loans later than expected, preventing the Fund from reinvesting principal proceeds at higher interest rates and resulting in less income than potentially available.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Credit Spread Risk—The risk that credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between securities that is due to differences in each security’s respective credit quality) may increase when market participants believe that bonds generally have a greater risk of default, which could result in a decline in the market values of a Fund’s debt securities.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk—Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also have lower overall liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Call Risk—The risk that, during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer may call (or repay) a fixed-income security prior to maturity, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

·Mortgage Roll Risk—The risk that Advisors will not correctly predict mortgage prepayments and interest rates, which will diminish the Fund’s performance.

·Downgrade Risk—The risk that securities are subsequently downgraded should Advisors and/or rating agencies believe the issuer’s business outlook or creditworthiness has deteriorated.

·Non-Investment-Grade Securities Risk—Issuers of non-investment-grade securities, which are usually called “high-yield” or “junk bonds,” are typically in weaker financial health and such securities can be harder to value and sell and their prices can be more volatile than more highly rated securities. While these securities generally have higher rates of interest, they also involve greater risk of default than do securities of a higher-quality rating.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Derivatives Risk—The risks associated with investing in derivatives may be different and greater than the risks associated with directly investing in the underlying securities and other instruments. The Fund may use futures, options, single name or index credit default swaps, or forwards, and the Fund may also use more complex derivatives such as swaps that might present liquidity, credit and counterparty risk. When investing in derivatives, the Fund may lose more than the principal amount invested.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

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

Risk Lose Money [Text]

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

Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]

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Past performance

Performance Narrative [Text Block]

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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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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 an 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.org.

Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]

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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]

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www.tiaa.org

Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]

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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]

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ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Social Choice Bond Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

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^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 6.05%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

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Best quarter: 2.80%, for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. Worst quarter: -2.59%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

Year to Date Return, Label

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The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

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Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

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6.05%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

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Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

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Jun. 30, 2014

Highest Quarterly Return

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2.80%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

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Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

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Dec. 31, 2016

Lowest Quarterly Return

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(2.59%)

Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text]

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The returns for the benchmark index reflect no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.

Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate

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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

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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]

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After-tax returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

Performance Table Closing [Text Block]

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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.

For the Fund’s most current 30-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

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AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Thirty Day Yield Phone

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800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund | Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

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Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

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0.01%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

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2.52%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

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1.76%

^[1]

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund | Institutional Class

Risk/Return:

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Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)

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none

Maximum deferred sales charge

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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

0.34%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.03%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.37%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.37%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 38

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

119

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

208

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 468

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

(1.27%)

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

8.80%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

1.18%

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

3.19%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

4.51%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

0.33%

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.33%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.56%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.82%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 21, 2012

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(0.84%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.29%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

1.66%

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.19%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

2.16%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

1.64%

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund | Advisor 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

0.34%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.10%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.44%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.44%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 45

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

141

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

246

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 555

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.27%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.51%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.79%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund | 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

0.34%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.06%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.55%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 56

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

176

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

307

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 689

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.16%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.42%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.68%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 21, 2012

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund | 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

0.34%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.28%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.62%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.62%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 63

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

199

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

346

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 774

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.08%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.30%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.57%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 21, 2012

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund | 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

0.34%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.06%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.65%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[2]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.65%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 66

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

208

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

362

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 810

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

0.06%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

3.27%

Average Annual Returns, Since Inception

rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception

2.53%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 21, 2012

[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, LLC, 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) 0.40% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.55% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.65% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.75% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[3] The performance shown for the Advisor Class that is prior to its inception date is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor Class. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks current income consistent with maintaining liquidity and preserving capital.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00	none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class		Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
Management fees		0.10%	0.10%		0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees					0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.04%	0.14%	[1]	0.04%	0.29%	0.13%	0.04%	[2]
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.14%	0.24%		0.29%	0.39%	0.48%	0.14%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[3]							(0.14%)	[4]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.14%	0.24%		0.29%	0.39%	0.48%	none

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class	Class W
1 year	$ 14	$ 25	$ 30	$ 40	$ 49	none
3 years	45	77	93	125	154	none
5 years	79	135	163	219	269	none
10 years	$ 179	$ 306	$ 368	$ 493	$ 604	none

Principal investment strategies

The Fund is a “government money market fund,” as defined in the applicable rules governing money market funds, and as such invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in cash, U.S. Government securities and/or repurchase agreements that are collateralized fully by cash or U.S. Government securities. These investments include (1) securities issued by, or whose principal and interest are guaranteed by, the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities and (2) repurchase agreements involving securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities. Short-term, U.S. Government securities generally pay interest that is among the lowest for income-paying securities. Because of this, the yield on the Fund will likely be lower than the yields on funds that invest in longer-term or lower-quality securities.

Generally, the Fund seeks to maintain a share value of $1.00 per share. The Fund’s investments will be made in accordance with the applicable rules governing the quality, maturity and diversification of securities and other instruments held by money market funds. The Fund maintains a dollar-weighted average maturity of 60 days or less and a dollar-weighted average life to maturity of 120 days or less, and invests in debt obligations with a remaining maturity of 397 days or less.

Advisors limits the Fund’s investments to U.S. Government securities or securities that present minimal credit risks to the Fund and are of eligible quality.

A government money market fund is not required to impose liquidity fees or redemption gates, and the Fund does not currently intend to impose such fees and/or gates. However, the Fund’s Board of Trustees could elect to subject the Fund to such fees and/or gates in the future.

The above list of investments is not exclusive and the Fund may make other investments consistent with its investment objective and policies.

Principal investment risks

You could lose money over short or long periods by investing in this Fund. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The Fund’s sponsor has no legal obligation to provide support to the Fund, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the Fund at any time. An investment in the Fund, due to the nature of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:

·Current Income Risk—The risk that the income the Fund receives may fall as a result of a decline in interest rates. In a low or negative interest rate environment, the Fund may not be able to achieve a positive or zero yield or maintain a stable net asset value (“NAV”) of $1.00 per share.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

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

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

Past performance

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, and how those returns compare to those of the Fund’s peer group average. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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. As of October 14, 2016, certain changes were made to the Fund’s investment strategies. Performance information prior to this date reflects the Fund’s investment strategies before this date. As a result, the Fund’s performance after October 14, 2016 may differ materially from the performance information shown below for the period prior to October 14, 2016. Past performance of the Fund (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. The peer group average listed below is unmanaged, and you cannot invest directly in the peer group average. The returns for the peer group average 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.org.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Money Market Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 1.15%.

Best quarter: 0.53%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Worst quarter: 0.00%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2011.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, 10 Years		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	1.72%	0.56%		0.35%		Jul. 01, 1999
Advisor Class	1.73%	0.55%	[1]	0.35%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	1.58%	0.46%		0.28%	[1]	Sep. 30, 2009
Retirement Class	1.55%	0.42%		0.24%		Mar. 31, 2006
Retail Class	1.40%	0.36%		0.22%		Mar. 31, 2006
iMoneyNet Money Fund Averages™—All Government	1.42%	0.40%		0.21%

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

For the Fund’s most current 7-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

[1] Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.

[2] Estimate is for the current fiscal year.

[3] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.15% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.40% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.15% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[4] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks current income consistent with maintaining liquidity and preserving capital.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the durations noted in the table above. 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 “government money market fund,” as defined in the applicable rules governing money market funds, and as such invests at least 99.5% of its total assets in cash, U.S. Government securities and/or repurchase agreements that are collateralized fully by cash or U.S. Government securities. These investments include (1) securities issued by, or whose principal and interest are guaranteed by, the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities and (2) repurchase agreements involving securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities. Short-term, U.S. Government securities generally pay interest that is among the lowest for income-paying securities. Because of this, the yield on the Fund will likely be lower than the yields on funds that invest in longer-term or lower-quality securities.

Generally, the Fund seeks to maintain a share value of $1.00 per share. The Fund’s investments will be made in accordance with the applicable rules governing the quality, maturity and diversification of securities and other instruments held by money market funds. The Fund maintains a dollar-weighted average maturity of 60 days or less and a dollar-weighted average life to maturity of 120 days or less, and invests in debt obligations with a remaining maturity of 397 days or less.

Advisors limits the Fund’s investments to U.S. Government securities or securities that present minimal credit risks to the Fund and are of eligible quality.

A government money market fund is not required to impose liquidity fees or redemption gates, and the Fund does not currently intend to impose such fees and/or gates. However, the Fund’s Board of Trustees could elect to subject the Fund to such fees and/or gates in the future.

The above list of investments is not exclusive and the Fund may make other investments consistent with its investment objective and policies.

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. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The Fund’s sponsor has no legal obligation to provide support to the Fund, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the Fund at any time. An investment in the Fund, due to the nature of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, typically is subject to the following principal investment risks:

·Current Income Risk—The risk that the income the Fund receives may fall as a result of a decline in interest rates. In a low or negative interest rate environment, the Fund may not be able to achieve a positive or zero yield or maintain a stable net asset value (“NAV”) of $1.00 per share.

·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.

·Credit Risk (a type of Issuer Risk)—The risk that the issuer of fixed-income investments may not be able or willing to meet interest or principal payments when the payments become due.

·Market Volatility, Liquidity and Valuation Risk (types of Market Risk)—The risk that volatile or dramatic reductions in trading activity make it difficult for the Fund to properly value its investments and that the Fund may not be able to purchase or sell an investment at an attractive price, if at all.

·Income Volatility Risk—The risk that the level of current income from a portfolio of fixed-income investments may decline in certain interest rate environments.

·Interest Rate Risk (a type of Market Risk)—The risk that increases in interest rates can cause the prices of fixed-income investments to decline. This risk is heightened to the extent the Fund invests in longer duration fixed-income investments and during periods when prevailing interest rates are low or negative. As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United States and in certain foreign markets are at low levels, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to risks associated with rising interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on the markets and may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility.

·U.S. Government Securities Risk—Securities issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities may receive varying levels of support from the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. To the extent the Fund invests significantly in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities, any market movements, regulatory changes or changes in political or economic conditions that affect the securities of the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities in which the Fund invests may have a significant impact on the Fund’s performance.

·Floating and Variable Rate Securities Risk—Floating and variable rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the securities. The rate adjustment intervals may be regular and range from daily up to annually, or may be based on an event, such as a change in the prime rate. Floating and variable rate securities may be subject to greater liquidity risk than other debt securities, meaning that there may be limitations on the Fund’s ability to sell the securities at any given time. Such securities also may lose value.

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

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.

Risk Money Market Fund May Not Preserve Dollar [Text]

rr_RiskMoneyMarketFundMayNotPreserveDollar

Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so.

Risk Money Market Fund Sponsor May Not Provide Support [Text]

rr_RiskMoneyMarketFundSponsorMayNotProvideSupport

The Fund’s sponsor has no legal obligation to provide support to the Fund, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the Fund at any time.

RIsk Not Insured [Text]

rr_RiskNotInsured

An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, and how those returns compare to those of the Fund’s peer group average. Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

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. As of October 14, 2016, certain changes were made to the Fund’s investment strategies. Performance information prior to this date reflects the Fund’s investment strategies before this date. As a result, the Fund’s performance after October 14, 2016 may differ materially from the performance information shown below for the period prior to October 14, 2016. Past performance of the Fund (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. The peer group average listed below is unmanaged, and you cannot invest directly in the peer group average. The returns for the peer group average 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.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.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 (%)† Money Market Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 1.15%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 0.53%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Worst quarter: 0.00%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2011.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

1.15%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Dec. 31, 2018

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

0.53%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2011

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

none

Performance Table Closing [Text Block]

rr_PerformanceTableClosingTextBlock

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

For the Fund’s most current 7-day yield, please call the Fund at 800-842-2252.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Money Market Seven Day Yield Phone

rr_MoneyMarketSevenDayYieldPhone

800-842-2252

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund | iMoneyNet Money Fund Averages™—All Government

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.42%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.40%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.21%

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund | 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

0.04%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.14%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.14%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 14

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

45

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

79

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 179

Annual Return 2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

0.51%

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

0.11%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

0.05%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

0.04%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

0.02%

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

none

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

0.02%

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

0.29%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

0.75%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

1.72%

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.72%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.56%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.35%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Jul. 01, 1999

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund | Advisor 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

0.14%

^[2]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.24%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.24%

Expenses Restated to Reflect Current [Text]

rr_ExpensesRestatedToReflectCurrent

Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 25

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

77

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

135

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 306

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.73%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.55%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.35%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund | 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

0.04%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.29%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.29%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 30

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

93

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

163

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 368

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.58%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.46%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.28%

^[3]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 30, 2009

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund | 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

0.29%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.39%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.39%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 40

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

125

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

219

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 493

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.55%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.42%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.24%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund | 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

0.13%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.48%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.48%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 49

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

154

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

269

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 604

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

1.40%

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

0.36%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

0.22%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Mar. 31, 2006

TIAA-CREF Money Market Fund | Class W

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

0.04%

^[4]

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.14%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

(0.14%)

^[1],[5]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

none

Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text]

rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates

Estimate is for the current fiscal year.

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

none

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

none

Performance One Year or Less [Text]

rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess

Class W does not have a full year of performance and is not included in the table.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.15% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.30% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.40% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; (v) 0.50% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares; and (vi) 0.15% of average daily net assets for Class W shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] Restated to reflect estimate for the current fiscal year.

[3] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

[4] Estimate is for the current fiscal year.

[5] Teachers Advisors, LLC has contractually agreed to waive and/or reimburse Class W's Management fees and Other expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions or other transactional expenses, Acquired fund fees and expenses, Trustee expenses and extraordinary expenses) in their entirety. Teachers Advisors, LLC expects these waiver and/or reimbursement arrangements to remain in effect indefinitely, unless changed or terminated with approval of the Board of Trustees.

XML

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund

Investment objective

The Fund seeks to obtain a favorable long-term total return through both capital appreciation and current income, by investing primarily in equity securities of companies principally engaged in or related to the real estate industry.

Fees and expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
Maximum sales charge imposed on purchases (percentage of offering price)	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum deferred sales charge	none	none	none	none	none
Maximum sales charge imposed on reinvested dividends and other distributions	none	none	none	none	none
Redemption or exchange fee	none	none	none	none	none
Account maintenance fee (annual fee on accounts under $2,000)	none	none	none	none	$ 15.00

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund		Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
Management fees		0.48%	0.48%	0.48%	0.48%	0.48%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees				0.15%		0.25%
Other expenses		0.03%	0.16%	0.03%	0.28%	0.08%
Total annual Fund operating expenses		0.51%	0.64%	0.66%	0.76%	0.81%
Waivers and expense reimbursements	[1]
fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement		0.51%	0.64%	0.66%	0.76%	0.81%

Example

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund - USD ($)	Institutional Class	Advisor Class	Premier Class	Retirement Class	Retail Class
1 year	$ 52	$ 65	$ 67	$ 78	$ 83
3 years	164	205	211	243	259
5 years	285	357	368	422	450
10 years	$ 640	$ 798	$ 822	$ 942	$ 1,002

Portfolio turnover

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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 34% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the securities of companies that are principally engaged in or related to the real estate industry (“real estate securities”), including those that own significant real estate assets, such as real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). The Fund will invest primarily in equity securities of such companies. The Fund is actively managed using a research-oriented process with a focus on cash flows, asset values and Teachers Advisors, LLC’s (“Advisors”) belief in management’s ability to increase shareholder value. The Fund does not invest directly in real estate. The Fund concentrates its investments in the real estate industry. From time to time, the Fund may also invest in debt securities of companies principally engaged in or related to the real estate industry. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

An issuer is principally “engaged in” or principally “related to” the real estate industry if at least 50% of its assets, gross income or net profits are attributable to ownership, construction, management or sale of residential, commercial or industrial real estate, or to products or services related to the real estate industry. The Fund typically invests in securities issued by equity REITs (which directly own real estate), mortgage REITs (which make short-term construction or real estate development loans or invest in long-term mortgages or mortgage pools), real estate brokers and developers, homebuilders, companies that manage real estate and companies that own substantial amounts of real estate. Businesses related to the real estate industry include manufacturers and distributors of building supplies and financial institutions that make or service mortgage loans.

The Fund also may invest up to 15% of its assets in real estate securities of foreign issuers and up to 20% of its assets in equity (including preferred stock) and debt securities of issuers that are not engaged in or related to the real estate industry. The benchmark index for the Fund is the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index.

Principal investment risks

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:

·Real Estate Investing Risk—As a result of the Fund’s investment objective, the Fund is subject to all of the risks associated with the ownership of real estate. These risks include, among others, declines in the value of real estate, negative changes in the climate for real estate, risks related to general and local economic conditions, decreases in property revenues, increases in prevailing interest rates, property taxes and operating expenses, changes in zoning laws and costs resulting from the cleanup of environmental problems.

·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.

·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.

·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 have lower liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Industry/Sector Concentration Risk—The risk that focusing on investment in specific industries or sectors makes a fund more vulnerable to developments particularly affecting those industries or sectors than a more broadly diversified fund would be.

·Mid-Cap Risk—The risk that the stocks of mid-capitalization companies often experience greater price volatility, lower trading volume and lower overall liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.

·Small-Cap Risk—The risk that the stocks of small-capitalization companies often experience greater price volatility than large- or mid-sized companies because small-cap companies are often newer or less established than larger companies and are likely to have more limited resources, products and markets. Securities of small-cap companies often have lower overall liquidity than securities of larger companies as a result of there being a smaller market for their securities, which can have an adverse effect on the pricing of these securities and on the ability to sell these securities when Advisors deems it appropriate.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

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

Past performance

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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, reimburse and/or compensate the Fund for certain fees, expenses and/or costs. Without these reductions and/or compensation, 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 an 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.org. For information on the effect of compensation paid to the Fund on performance, see the Financial highlights for the Fund in the non-summary portion of the Prospectus.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS FOR THE INSTITUTIONAL CLASS SHARES (%)† Real Estate Securities Fund

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 20.71%.

Best quarter: 31.84%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -32.65%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2009.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

Average Annual Returns - TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund	Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	Average Annual Returns, 5 Years		Average Annual Returns, 10 Years		Average Annual Returns, Inception Date
Institutional Class	(4.04%)	8.56%		12.35%		Oct. 01, 2002
Advisor Class	(4.15%)	8.50%	[1]	12.32%	[1]	Dec. 04, 2015
Premier Class	(4.18%)	8.41%		12.20%	[1]	Sep. 30, 2009
Retirement Class	(4.30%)	8.30%		12.07%		Oct. 01, 2002
Retail Class	(4.42%)	8.22%		12.01%		Oct. 01, 2002
After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Class	(5.03%)	6.91%		11.04%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Institutional Class	(2.05%)	6.30%		9.81%
FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)	(4.04%)	8.32%		12.53%

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.

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.57% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.72% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.72% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.82% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.96% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[1] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

Label

Element

Value

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Risk/Return [Heading]

rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund

Objective [Heading]

rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment objective

Objective, Primary [Text Block]

rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The Fund seeks to obtain a favorable long-term total return through both capital appreciation and current income, by investing primarily in equity securities of companies principally engaged in or related to the real estate industry.

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. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, investors may be required to pay a commission to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary on purchases and sales of Institutional Class or Advisor Class shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]

rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Jul. 31, 2020

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 March 31, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 34% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate

rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate

34.00%

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 fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, remain the same. The example assumes that the Fund’s fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangements will each remain in place for the duration noted in the table above. 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 the securities of companies that are principally engaged in or related to the real estate industry (“real estate securities”), including those that own significant real estate assets, such as real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). The Fund will invest primarily in equity securities of such companies. The Fund is actively managed using a research-oriented process with a focus on cash flows, asset values and Teachers Advisors, LLC’s (“Advisors”) belief in management’s ability to increase shareholder value. The Fund does not invest directly in real estate. The Fund concentrates its investments in the real estate industry. From time to time, the Fund may also invest in debt securities of companies principally engaged in or related to the real estate industry. For purposes of the 80% investment policy, the term “assets” means net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes.

An issuer is principally “engaged in” or principally “related to” the real estate industry if at least 50% of its assets, gross income or net profits are attributable to ownership, construction, management or sale of residential, commercial or industrial real estate, or to products or services related to the real estate industry. The Fund typically invests in securities issued by equity REITs (which directly own real estate), mortgage REITs (which make short-term construction or real estate development loans or invest in long-term mortgages or mortgage pools), real estate brokers and developers, homebuilders, companies that manage real estate and companies that own substantial amounts of real estate. Businesses related to the real estate industry include manufacturers and distributors of building supplies and financial institutions that make or service mortgage loans.

The Fund also may invest up to 15% of its assets in real estate securities of foreign issuers and up to 20% of its assets in equity (including preferred stock) and debt securities of issuers that are not engaged in or related to the real estate industry. The benchmark index for the Fund is the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index.

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:

·Real Estate Investing Risk—As a result of the Fund’s investment objective, the Fund is subject to all of the risks associated with the ownership of real estate. These risks include, among others, declines in the value of real estate, negative changes in the climate for real estate, risks related to general and local economic conditions, decreases in property revenues, increases in prevailing interest rates, property taxes and operating expenses, changes in zoning laws and costs resulting from the cleanup of environmental problems.

·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.

·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.

·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 have lower liquidity and be more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·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.

·Industry/Sector Concentration Risk—The risk that focusing on investment in specific industries or sectors makes a fund more vulnerable to developments particularly affecting those industries or sectors than a more broadly diversified fund would be.

·Mid-Cap Risk—The risk that the stocks of mid-capitalization companies often experience greater price volatility, lower trading volume and lower overall liquidity than the stocks of larger, more established companies.

·Small-Cap Risk—The risk that the stocks of small-capitalization companies often experience greater price volatility than large- or mid-sized companies because small-cap companies are often newer or less established than larger companies and are likely to have more limited resources, products and markets. Securities of small-cap companies often have lower overall liquidity than securities of larger companies as a result of there being a smaller market for their securities, which can have an adverse effect on the pricing of these securities and on the ability to sell these securities when Advisors deems it appropriate.

·Illiquid Investments Risk—The risk that illiquid investments may be difficult to sell for the value at which they are carried, if at all, or at any price within the desired time frame.

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 for the last ten years. 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 for a calendar quarter during the full calendar-year periods covered by the bar chart. The performance table following the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for the Institutional, Advisor, Premier, Retirement and Retail classes over the applicable one-year, five-year, ten-year and since-inception periods ended December 31, 2018, 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, reimburse and/or compensate the Fund for certain fees, expenses and/or costs. Without these reductions and/or compensation, 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 an 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.org. For information on the effect of compensation paid to the Fund on performance, see the Financial highlights for the Fund in the non-summary portion of the Prospectus.

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.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 (%)† Real Estate Securities Fund

Bar Chart Footnotes [Text Block]

rr_BarChartFootnotesTextBlock

^†The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was 20.71%.

Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]

rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Best quarter: 31.84%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Worst quarter: -32.65%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2009.

Year to Date Return, Label

rr_YearToDateReturnLabel

The year-to-date return as of the most recent calendar quarter, which ended on June 30, 2019, was

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate

Jun. 30, 2019

Bar Chart, Year to Date Return

rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn

20.71%

Highest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Best quarter:

Highest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate

Sep. 30, 2009

Highest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn

31.84%

Lowest Quarterly Return, Label

rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel

Worst quarter:

Lowest Quarterly Return, Date

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate

Mar. 31, 2009

Lowest Quarterly Return

rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn

(32.65%)

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 returns are shown for only one class, and after-tax returns for other classes will vary

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.

Average Annual Return, Caption

rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the Periods Ended December 31, 2018

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund | FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(4.04%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

8.32%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

12.53%

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund | 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

0.48%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.03%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.51%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.51%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 52

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

164

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

285

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 640

Annual Return 2009

rr_AnnualReturn2009

24.65%

Annual Return 2010

rr_AnnualReturn2010

31.10%

Annual Return 2011

rr_AnnualReturn2011

6.97%

Annual Return 2012

rr_AnnualReturn2012

19.55%

Annual Return 2013

rr_AnnualReturn2013

1.71%

Annual Return 2014

rr_AnnualReturn2014

28.13%

Annual Return 2015

rr_AnnualReturn2015

4.62%

Annual Return 2016

rr_AnnualReturn2016

4.38%

Annual Return 2017

rr_AnnualReturn2017

12.29%

Annual Return 2018

rr_AnnualReturn2018

(4.04%)

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(4.04%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

8.56%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

12.35%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Oct. 01, 2002

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(5.03%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

6.91%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

11.04%

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund | Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

Risk/Return:

rr_RiskReturnAbstract

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(2.05%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

6.30%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

9.81%

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund | Advisor 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

0.48%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.16%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.64%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.64%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 65

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

205

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

357

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 798

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(4.15%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

8.50%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

12.32%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Dec. 04, 2015

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund | 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

0.48%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.15%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.03%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.66%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.66%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 67

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

211

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

368

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 822

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(4.18%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

8.41%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

12.20%

^[2]

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Sep. 30, 2009

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund | 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

0.48%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.28%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.76%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.76%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 78

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

243

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

422

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 942

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(4.30%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

8.30%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

12.07%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Oct. 01, 2002

TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund | 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

0.48%

Distribution (Rule 12b-1) fees

rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets

0.25%

Other expenses

rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets

0.08%

Total annual Fund operating expenses

rr_ExpensesOverAssets

0.81%

Waivers and expense reimbursements

rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets

^[1]

fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement

rr_NetExpensesOverAssets

0.81%

Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year

rr_ExpenseExampleYear01

$ 83

Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear03

259

Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear05

450

Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years

rr_ExpenseExampleYear10

$ 1,002

Average Annual Returns, 1 Year

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01

(4.42%)

Average Annual Returns, 5 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05

8.22%

Average Annual Returns, 10 Years

rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10

12.01%

Average Annual Returns, Inception Date

rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate

Oct. 01, 2002

[1] Under the Fund's expense reimbursement arrangements, the Fund's investment adviser, Teachers Advisors, LLC, 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) 0.57% of average daily net assets for Institutional Class shares; (ii) 0.72% of average daily net assets for Advisor Class shares; (iii) 0.72% of average daily net assets for Premier Class shares; (iv) 0.82% of average daily net assets for Retirement Class shares; and (v) 0.96% of average daily net assets for Retail Class shares of the Fund. These expense reimbursement arrangements will continue through at least July 31, 2020, unless changed with approval of the Board of Trustees.

[2] The performance shown for the Advisor and Premier classes that is prior to their inception dates is based on performance of the Fund's Institutional Class. The performance for these periods has not been restated to reflect higher expenses of the Advisor and Premier classes. If those expenses had been reflected, the performance would have been lower.

XML

Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Aug. 01, 2019