IAMAS consists of two schools: the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences and the International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences. The Institute is solely a graduate school (for obtaining a Masters Degree) and has one faculty and one course, namely Media Creations. There are 20 students in each year of the course. The Academy is a vocational college accepting 30 students each year who must have at least graduated from high school. The Academy was founded in 1996 and the Institute was opened in 2001. Both schools were established by Gifu Prefecture as part of a strategy to promote advanced information technology and the culture that develops from this. The schools' activities are closely linked with Softopia Japan, the hub of the Prefecture's information industry.