The history of Leyte Normal University dates back to the pre-war years. It came into being in 1921 as the Provincial Normal School, a mere adjunct of the Leyte High School. It eventually outgrew its base becoming a two-year collegiate training institution in 1938. It became a degree-granting four-year college complete with a training department in 1952. It was then known as Leyte Normal School. Sometime in April 1996, the university was proclaimed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as the Center of Excellence for Teacher Education in Region VIII from 1996 to 2001. Then in August 2008, CHED again awarded LNU as Center of Excellence for Teacher Education from 2008 - 2011.