University of the West
The University of the West (formerly known as Hsi Lai University, commonly known as UWest) is a university in Rosemead, California. The first Buddhist funded university in the United States, it was founded in 1991 by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, founder of the Taiwan-based Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan and Hsi Lai Temple. It moved from the Hsi Lai Temple complex in Hacienda Heights to its current location in 1996.
UWest is a private, non profit school accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Although founded by a Buddhist organization, UWest is not a Buddhist college, which is a term typically used for monasteries or schools that train people for the monastic order.
UWest students are not required to subscribe to the Buddhist faith or practice Buddhism in any form. Indeed, UWest's undergraduate and graduate programs in Business Administration garner higher enrollment numbers than its undergraduate and graduate programs in Religious Studies. UWest's Religious Studies and Buddhist Studies Departments are world renowned and attract monastics and students of Buddhism from across the world.