University of the West

University of the West is a private, nonprofit university located in Los Angeles County, near the San Gabriel Mountains. Our beautiful green campus, modern classrooms, full-service library, on-site residence halls, and recreational facilities make UWest an educational oasis within the bustling Los Angeles metropolis.

UWest brings high-quality instruction and inclusive student services to our diverse local and global communities. In all of our programs—from the bachelor’s through the doctoral level—we blend Buddhist wisdom with Western academic traditions and new technology.

Students from around the world thrive in a caring, supportive, peaceful, and multicultural campus community. UWest’s small class sizes and attentive educators provide a personalized college experience focused on individual student success.

Find out more about the beautiful UWest campus, our focus on student purpose and whole person education, and our commitment to access through affordability.

OUR MISSION

The mission of University of the West is to provide a whole-person education in a context informed by Buddhist wisdom and values, and to facilitate cultural understanding and appreciation between East and West.

UWEST:

• Provides a whole-person education, highlighting where the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and creative converge.
• Offers an education as unique as you are, supplying the tools and support for our students to develop their own paths to academic success.
• Delivers a strong liberal arts education that draws from Buddhist wisdom and strives toward a global perspective, to ensure that our graduates can compete and contribute in the modern world.
• Embraces and celebrates diversity as a gateway to wisdom and understanding.
• Creates an environment of compassion, encouraging our students to pursue equality and to act in service to others.
• Presents opportunities for intellectual and cultural exchange between East and West.
• Seeks and develops students of strong character, who are able to lead others and make decisions motivated by the common good.
• Establishes space and guidance for students to achieve self-knowledge for a peaceful and fulfilling life.
• Promotes spiritual knowledge, guiding students to find their purpose and meaning through “contemplative education.”
• Believes in education as conversation, with students and faculty learning with, from, and on behalf of one another.

OUR FOUNDER

UWest was founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun in 1990. Born in Jiangdu, Jiangsu Province, China in 1927, Venerable Master Hsing Yun, a widely respected advocate of Humanistic Buddhism, is also the founder of the Fo Guang Shan (Buddha’s Light Mountain) order, one of the largest Buddhist organizations in the world. Founded in Taiwan in 1967, it now has over 200 branch temples and associated centers throughout the world.

The humanistic projects of Fo Guang Shan include a children’s home, free medical clinics, a senior citizens’ home, prison ministries, disaster relief, and various other forms of community service. Fo Guang Shan also administers and sustains various cultural and educational endeavors including nursery schools, high schools, libraries, museums, colleges, and universities.