This article is a short comprehensive history of the field of Danish as a Second Language (DSL) as it has unfolded at the University of Copenhagen. It takes the reader through the early starts of the research field developing into a study that has been mandatory for teachers of Danish for adults. Over the years as integration of migrants into the Danish society has been on the political agenda, the study of DSL has provided research based education for professionals. Since 2016, however, the education of this particular kind of language teachers has attracted political attention, and the article aims at discussing the continuous need for highly skilled professionals in teaching Danish to adult migrants, rejecting the politically formed notion that it is beneficial to the migrants and so-ciety to lower the educational requirements for future teachers and at the same time increase the expectations to migrants’ competence in Danish language in order to become self-reliant.