Founded in 1907, Northern Caribbean University (formerly West Indies College) is the oldest private tertiary institution in Jamaica. Formerly known as West Indian Training College, it began by offering courses up to the twelfth grade. As its offerings developed to include theology, teaching, secretarial science, business, and natural sciences, it became a junior college. It achieved senior college status in the late 1950's when it began to offer the Bachelor's Degree in Theology. Since then, baccalaureate programmes in some twenty other disciplines have been added.

Northern Caribbean University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution, has as its mission quality Christ-centered education, achieved through academic excellence, social interaction, spiritual development and a strong work ethic, thereby fitting each student for committed professional service to country and to God.

Philosophy

The University adopts the philosophy that "True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than a preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come." (Ellen G. White, Education, p.13)

Objectives

In harmony with its mission, the University seeks to attain the following objectives:

• Lead each student into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

• Guide students in the development of Christian characters marked by loyalty to God, their nation and mankind.

• Engender in students a love for humanitarian deeds of selfless service, similar to those of Jesus.

• Inspire students to intellectual excellence, creativity and independent thought.

• Develop in students a sense of responsibility and self discipline.

• Cultivate in students tolerance and respect for the rights and opinions of others.

• Train students to appreciate and practice the highest levels of deportment and refinement.

• Instill in students an appreciation for the elevating and the beautiful, as revealed in nature, the sciences and the arts.

• Develop within students a wholesome respect for the dignity of labour, especially within the context of a developing nation.

• Provide opportunities for students to participate in beneficial community-oriented activities.

• Enable students to acquire knowledge and skills that are necessary for gainful engagement in honest livelihood activities.

• Prepare students to cope with the stress/challenges of a changing world.

Goals - Academic

• To provide a wide range of undergraduate programmes for personal and professional development, thus enabling a significant number of persons to adequately participate in nation building.

• To provide broad spectrum, high quality educational programmes for post-baccalaureate degree preparation and productive, useful roles in society.

• To motivate students for intellectual excellence, creativity and independent thought, through sound teaching methods, exposure to appropriate reading materials, technology, and enriching experiences.

• To balance academic and practical experience through work/study programmes which develop  a wholesome respect for the dignity of labour.

• To provide pre-college programmes to bridge the gap between the under-prepared university prospect and university entrance requirements.

• To respond to special needs of the local and international community through the provision of special courses, seminars and workshops.

• To cooperate with the Jamaican and other Caribbean governments in developing accredited programmes in line with their national objectives.

• To create an academic culture that both consumes and creates knowledge.

Goals - Religious

• To provide an environment that reflects the spiritual values and principles of the Bible as taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

• To incorporate faith and learning in all academic Departments, with a Christ-centered approach to the teaching of the subject area.

• To foster a respect for things spiritual and encourage temperate living.

• To promote the development of tolerance of differences in the human race, as an instrument of peace and goodwill.

Goals - Physical

• To encourage healthful living through the teaching and practice of temperance, good nutrition, and abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and other unhealthful drugs.

• To encourage physical development through outdoor exercise and physical labour.

• To develop within students an awareness of the importance of good health to themselves, their families and their God.