Each of these countries is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations or a British Overseas Territory. The aim of the university is to help unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth in the West Indies, thus allowing for improved regional autonomy.[1] The University was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London.[2]

Since the Universitys inception, students and faculty have been recognized in fields ranging from the arts and sciences, to business, politics, and sports. Notable alumni and faculty include three U.W.I.(Mona) Nobel Laureates, sixty-one Rhodes Scholars, 18 current or former Caribbean Heads of Government, and an Olympic medalist. The universitys cricket team previously participated in West Indian domestic cricket, but now participates as part of a Combined Campuses and Colleges team.

This university consists of three physical campuses at Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados and the Open Campus. There are satellite campuses in Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and a Centre for Hotel and Tourism Management in Nassau, Bahamas. The other contributing countries are served by the Open Campus[3] which has a physical presence and Heads of Sites in each of the 18 countries. There are International Programmes for universities in the USA, Canada, China, Japan, United Kingdom, Brazil and Mexico such as University of Toronto, McGill University,Osaka Gakuin University, China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai University, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Queens University, University of Calgary, Emory University, University of Massachusetts, the University of Guelph, Michigan State University, Yale University, Florida State University, Kings College London, St Andrews University, Northeastern University, Stockholm University, University of California, Sophia University, University of Illinois and Universidad de Quintana Roo.

The university was founded in 1948, on the